With almost 356,000 unemployed teachers applying for the 14,000 positions announced by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) last month, the nation’s unemployment problem has once again surfaced. Due to a large number of candidates, a competitive hiring process is expected, which will demoralize hundreds of thousands of people who are unsuccessful in finding employment. The deadline for online applications was July 7, TSC will then publish the names of those who made it to the finals on their website hopefully this week.
However, some regions, such as the desert and semi-arid zones, “could have fewer applicants,” a report states. Before the chosen candidates report to their schools on September 1, 2022, TSC plans to finalize the selection process and deal with any issues in the next two weeks. With 219,311 instructors expressing interest in the 4,000 new opportunities, post-primary teaching positions drew the most candidates. The commission received 136,833 applications for the 1,000 new primary school teacher openings that were posted. Before being assigned to their respective schools, qualified candidates will be selected at the county level.
In addition, TSC has posted 8,230 job openings to replace teachers who left the profession due to attrition. 327,882 applications were submitted for the positions, which are split between primary schools 6,539 and post-primary institutions (1,691). TSC targeted Mandera, Garissa, and Wajir counties, which are severely understaffed due to insecurity in the area where outsiders are frequently targeted, teachers from other regions have recently opposed being sent there. TSC plans to place 1,230 teachers in the area on a permanent, pensionable, and contract basis. 21,194 candidates who have shown interest in the open positions.
Dr. Nancy Macharia stated, “To qualify for recruitment, a candidate must be teaching under the board of management in Garissa, Mandera, or Wajir counties, if not belonging from the three counties.” He added that the merit lists produced during the exercise would be used for subsequent hiring within the fiscal year.
Regarding the fact that its the election year, Deputy President William Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), has promised to hire 116,000 teachers in two years if he wins the 2022 elections while Raila Odinga, the presidential candidate of the One Kenya Coalition Party, has promised to hire all unemployed teachers if he wins.
Unemployment has become a big concern among professionals in Kenya not only in the education sector but also in the medical field. A report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics states that youths between the ages of 20 to 24 and 25 to 29 have the largest percentages of unemployed people ranging between 16.3% and 9.1%, respectively.
