Members of the 13th parliament have been faulted for politicizing the recruitment of teachers, which could set a precedent for nepotism, tribalism and regional imbalance in the field.
The big debate has emerged as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) begins the hiring of 35,000 teachers, one of the biggest lot in Kenya’s history.
Some MPs have poked their noses into the TSC recruitment formula, which they have termed as faulty.
The lawmakers argue that the current hiring criteria has led to thousands of teachers ageing before getting employment because the commission puts more premium on grades than on the biological age of candidates.
On Monday, members of the National Assembly’s Education and Research Committee caused a stir after they demanded a revision of the hiring principles to ensure they consider the biological age of applicants alongside other parameters.
Currently, TSC selection standards give weight to the year a teacher graduates and the quality of the certificate he or she possesses.
The MPs, led by committee chairperson Julius Meli, hysterically suggested that TSC should work out a formula that would give an advantage to the biological age of the unemployed teachers.
Stakeholders have strongly opposed this move, saying that some MPs are only acting out of selfish interests of favouring the politically correct instead of the duly merited.
It is rumored that some legislators have been enticing unemployed teachers by demanding their details with the false promise of helping them gain employment.
Such involvement could end up being a subtle way of reintroducing nepotism and tribalism in the recruitment process.
TSC was appearing before the Meli-led committee to discuss the ongoing recruitment of teachers, interns, and the delay in the promotion of tutors across the country.
The Commission team was led by chairman Jamleck Muturi and Legal, Labour and lndustrial Relations director Cavin Anyuor, who represented CEO Nancy Macharia.
Anyuor defended the formula used by the Commission, blaming the growing number of qualified teachers who remain out of employment on the exchequer.
“Our recruitment considers the year of graduation and strength of certificate. We currently have a 116,000 teachers shortage. We have no budget for it. Recruitment of teachers is based on budgetary allocation, the problem is in the budget not the selection criteria,” he said.
Muturi assured MPs that age will not be used to bar anyone from the ongoing recruitment, urging all Kenyans qualified for the advertised positions to apply.
Muturi also clarified that TSC analyzes to establish the number of intern teachers who had exited to allow those who were unsuccessful in the permanent jobs to try their luck in the interns’ recruitment.
TSC commissioner Timon Oyucho said the commission had planned to conclude hiring of permanent and pensionable teachers before recruiting interns.
Last week, TSC boss Nancy Macharia told MPs that the compressed school calendar caused the delay in the recruitment of the interns.
“We have had a different school calendar since the onset of Covid-19, but we will advertise for the positions immediately after KCSE,” Macharia said.
This comes even as TSC extended the deadline for teachers to submit their applications.
The commission said 10,000 of the teachers will be employed on permanent pensionable terms, while 25,550 will be intern teachers.
Some 9,000 of the slots are for permanent secondary school teachers and 1,000 for primary school teachers, while 21,550 slots are for interns for junior secondary schools.
The commission said another 4,000 intern teachers will be hired for primary schools.
