TSC Announced 14,000 Vacancies, 356,000 Applied, Only 5 In Each Category To Be Picked

The nation’s unemployment crisis has exploded with more than 356,000 unemployed teachers applying for the 14,000 positions advertised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in June 2022.

The high number of applicants sets the stage for a stiff recruitment exercise that will also leave hundreds of thousands of teachers dejected by failure to secure jobs. This is despite there being an acute teacher shortage in public primary and secondary schools.

The competitive hiring process will result from the enormous number of candidates, leaving hundreds of thousands of people frustrated that they were unable to find work. Despite the fact that public elementary and secondary schools have a serious teacher shortage.

According to a TSC roadmap for recruitment, the online application process closed on July 7 after which the candidates who will have been shortlisted will be published on the TSC website. This is expected to be done anytime this week.

The shortage of teachers in public schools reached 103,931 as of January of this year, according to TSC CEO Nancy Macharia. There is a shortfall in primary and secondary schools, according to Macharia, who spoke before the Senate Education Committee.

The Primary schools are short 46,109 instructors, while post-primary institutions are short 57,822 teachers, according to TSC statistics provided to the committee.

The Nation understands that, for each of the advertised positions, only the top five candidates will be shortlisted, in a departure from the past when long merit lists would be developed although only a few stood a chance of getting the job.

In the new recruitment guidelines released by TSC, qualified teachers who have evidence of internship will stand high chance of securing TSC jobs. According to the list, only five applicants have been shortlisted. The applicant’s shortlist has replaced the famous merit list.

The list contains the name of the applicants, telephone numbers and TSC numbers only. Important details like marks of the candidate, year of graduation, and internship marks have been omitted from the list previously known as the merit list.

The lists seem to compromise transparency as key information on merit has been omitted. However, the commission has reduced marks for suitable applicants who will provide evidence for internship. Previously, applicants who produced evidence for internship secured 30 marks.