Outrage as Maths teachers are locked out of TSC latest recruitment

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia speaking in a past event. Maths teachers from across the country have complained to the commission about a grave omission of the subject from the list of those advertised for internships recently.

Qualified Maths teachers have protested to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for being left out deliberately in the recruitment of 20,000 intern teachers announced recently.

Speaking to Education News from various parts of the country, the teachers said that the TSC had asked science, language and humanity specialists to apply with a clear score sheet for each of those subjects.

The bitter educators who spoke in confidence lamented that Maths as a subject was not considered to belong to any of the three categories, thus totally eliminating them from applying for the coveted jobs.

“We are wondering what category is Maths subject in the school curriculum. If it is not within the three categories, then what is it? We have known all along that Maths falls squarely within the STEM subjects. Has TSC unilaterally decided to remove it from that category?” wondered one of the aggrieved teachers.

The teachers argued that their situation is concerning given that the deadline for application for the advertised vacancies is November 4 this year and given the current confusion, they may not have a chance to express interest in the opportunities. They appealed to the teachers’ employer to urgently clear the air over this matter.

KUPPET Narok Branch Executive Secretary Charles Ng’eno confirmed he was aware of the problem and had even sought audience with the local TSC Director to address it.

“Yes, this is a serious problem. I have met the Narok TSC Director today to try to understand why this omission and we were asked to use official channels within the union to resolve the matter. We are in touch with our head office to take up the matter and we hope that a solution will be found soon,” said Ng’eno.

Efforts to get clarity from the commission on this issue bore no fruit. A senior officer at the staffing department declined to comment on the matter and referred us to the Corporate Communications section. An officer with the TSC Corporate Communications who also did not want to be named referred us to the CEO as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

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Under the new recruitment guidelines provided by the TSC, teachers trained in Biology, Chemistry and Physics are automatically awarded the maximum of 65 marks during the interviews, while those in technical or creative arts, which include Home Science, Computer Studies, Business Studies, Music, Drawing and Design, Woodwork, Electrical, Power Mechanics, Aviation Technology, Building and Construction Technology, and Metalwork, among others, get straight 40 marks.

Language teachers who possess training in French, English, Kiswahili, German, Arabic and Mandarin will be awarded a meagre 5 marks.

The rest of the marks under all these categories, apparently, will be earned on the basis of age, with those having 50 years and above apportioned 10 automatic marks while between 45-49 years get 9 marks. At the same time, those with 40-44 years and 39 years and below get 8 and 7 marks respectively. This implies the commission has given preference for older teachers in the recruitment to ensure they don’t retire before getting government employment.

Speaking before Parliament recently, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia told MPs that Science teachers would be given priority during the next recruitment and hinted that the tutors would be hired on contract.

She further disclosed there was a saturation of unemployed teachers in the market as 314,117 jobless educators applied for 46,000 vacancies it advertised on October 1 this year.

“We have a crisis, and we need to look for ways to address it. We have to agree that there is a shortage of Science teachers. When advertisements for Physics teachers are made, nobody applies,” she said.

By our reporter

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