Here is Why TSC Has Canceled Biometric Registration For Teachers

According to CEO Nancy Macharia, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will not go on with the biometric teacher registration exercise as earlier planned.

Speaking during the parliamentary committee on education, Nancy Macharia said TSC cannot execute the exercise with the current funding.

She added that the Commission needs an additional budget to be able to carry out some crucial exercises, including biometric registration exercises and promotion of teachers.

She told legislators that the allocations for other critical areas like promotion of teachers on competitive selection, the roll-out of a national biometric enrolment and validation of teachers, and gratuity to 3,358 contract tutors in northern Kenya had not been factored in the budget.

Macharia pleaded with the legislatures for additional funding to cater for biometric registration, teacher promotions among other critical areas.

“The commission would appreciate Parliament’s help for these areas to receive some allocation,” she said.

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TSC received an additional budget of approximately 15 billion shillings for the next financial year, the Commission proposed to use the money for the employment of new teachers.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani had allocated an additional 14.9 billion shillings to the TSC, whose budget has risen to 296.6 billion shillings from 281.7 billion shillings in the new financial year.

According to TSC in a report, which was presented to the Committee on Education and Research of the National Assembly by the Parliamentary Budget Office, shows it has planned to use its increased allocation of Sh15 billion exclusively to employ 13,000 secondary school teachers and 9,000 interns to cope with exits and the expected increase in enrolment when the junior secondary is rolled out in January 2023.

The legislatures however approved sh. 2.5 billion additional budget for employment of more teachers. According to the TSC proposal, it will use the money to employ 5,000 teachers this year.

CEO Nancy Macharia had earlier said the Commission will launch a countrywide Biometric Enrolment and Validation of Teachers (BEVOT) exercise in March 2022.

According to her, the biometric registration is about getting teachers’ biodata, for instance, TSC will know if the teacher has gone back to school to get Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training.