Many junior secondary schools (JSS) across the country are facing a crisis due to a shortage of teachers, as the science tutors hired in December 2024 may be on the move to the Senior Secondary Schools. This is expected to disrupt the previously stable situation in junior schools, as most of them had received science-based teachers at the end of last year’s recruitment.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) recruited 20,000 science and pre-technical teachers on internship toward the end of 2024. This was aimed at addressing the persistent shortage of teachers to handle science-based learning areas.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Education News has learned that these same teachers are now considering applying for the upcoming permanent and pensionable secondary school teaching positions, which are slated to begin next week.
This uncertainty has shaken many junior schools, as most headteachers are now facing the possibility of losing their teachers. “Despite the fact that they have been absorbed by the commission, most of them feel better placed in secondary schools than where they are now,” said one of the headteachers, who is working hard to convince his integrated science teachers to refrain from participating in the upcoming recruitment exercise.
The commission is in the process of recruiting 8,707 teachers to replace those who have exited through natural attrition. Of these, 5,862 will go to primary schools, 21 will go to junior schools, and the remaining 2,824 will be posted to secondary schools.
It is understood that the recruitment guidelines from the commission give preference to those who have not been employed by the TSC before. Already, many junior school teachers have signed their internship contracts with the commission, meaning they are considered employees of the organization.
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If the TSC guidelines are strictly enforced, this will automatically bar those on internship from applying for the permanent jobs. However, many JSS headteachers believe that the TSC was not very clear on this aspect, and this could potentially open doors for an uncontrolled exodus from the nascent institutions.
After the completion of the upcoming recruitment exercise, it is expected that the commission will be compelled to reverse course and begin replacing the interns who will have secured teaching positions in secondary schools.
It was the hope of many headteachers that the interns would have been excluded from the upcoming recruitment drive to prevent a possible “brain drain” at their schools.
The original idea behind deploying science teachers to junior schools was to fill the gaps caused by a shortage of tutors, especially as these schools now require laboratories as part of their STEM curriculum.
By Kaptich Tarus.
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Last year the commission argued in a court that interns are not TSC employees, your post is misguiding teachers, by refering to Interns as TSC employees. They are not TSC employees, they are just engaged by the commission