Schools have reopened, and concerns have been raised about the guidelines, infrastructure, and teacher utilization, among other things. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has confirmed that practicing P1 teachers will be assigned to junior secondary schools starting in February 2023.
The TSC had asked for information on primary school teachers who are qualified to teach in junior secondary schools. Only classroom teachers, according to TSC, will be posted to teach in the junior secondary sector beginning with Grade 7 later this month.
The TSC is devising a strategy to vet all primary school teachers with degree and diploma certificates in secondary options for placement in Grade 7 classes.
If a junior secondary section exists, teachers with the appropriate subject combination will be assigned to the same primary school. It is yet uncertain if the teachers would be vetted at the county or sub-county levels.
It is expected that approximately 17,000 primary school teachers have secondary school teaching certification. Despite the fact that some teachers submitted their diplomas and degree certificates to the Commission and obtained acknowledgement letters, the TSC requested a new list of teachers.
Details that TSC wanted the school heads to provide urgently through an excel template included;
- TSC number,
- Name, and Gender of the teacher,
- School/Institution,
- Sub County,
- KCSE Mean Grade,
- Qualification i.e. DIP, BED,
- Subject Combination,
- KCSE Subject Grade e.g MAT C+ & PHY B-,
- Year of Graduation,
- Year of Birth and
- Mobile Number
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia stated that teachers who have previously been trained on the junior secondary curriculum will retool the newly hired teachers.
“We target to train 90,000 teachers between January and April,” Macharia said.
The junior secondary school has opened avenues for promotion for primary school classroom teachers who have upgraded their PTE certifications to diploma and degree certificates. On the other hand, TSC has determined that only primary school teachers with secondary school teaching degrees would be permitted to teach in junior secondary.
TSC Requirements for P1 teachers to teach JSS
- Atleast C+ (plus) mean grade at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE or its equivalent.
- Atleast C+ (plus) in the two teaching subjects at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE or its equivalent.
- At least 8 units in each of the two teaching subjects
- Must be serving as a primary school teacher under TSC.
