The TSC has started retooling the 20,000 new Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers to support Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency-Based Assessment (CBA).
These teachers were recruited in December 2024 on a 1 year internship and reported to their stations on 6th January 2025 and are now undergoing training in their respective sub counties.
TSC Teacher Shortage and Recruitment Challenges
TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia said the country needs 72,422 more teachers for JSS.
Currently there are 76,928 teachers for JSS which is 51.5% of the required 149,350 teachers for Grades 7, 8 and 9.
TSC prioritized science subject teachers during the December recruitment as there is a severe shortage of science teachers in Kenya. Macharia said the challenge of filling positions for Physics and other STEM subjects is ongoing despite there being over 400,000 unemployed teachers in the country.
“We have communicated with the Ministry of Education and written to schools several times about the shortage of science teachers. When we advertise positions, we hardly get applications for subjects like Physics,” Macharia said.
CEMASTEA-Led Training for JSS STEM Teachers
The Centre for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) is leading the training for STEM teachers in:
- Mathematics
- Integrated Science
- Pre-Technical Studies
- Agriculture and Nutrition
Since April 2019, TSC has retooled 229,292 teachers on CBC and CBA, with 60,642 JSS teachers trained between May 2023 and November 2024.
Online Registration is Mandatory
A TSC circular dated 16th January 2025 directed County Directors to have teachers register online before training. CEMASTEA said only STEM subject teachers should fill the registration form using the link:
https://forms.gle/nycZIQhNgOZcNvrR7
Deadline was 24th January 2025.
The Way Forward for JSS Teaching in Kenya
TSC will redistribute and recruit more teachers in future recruitment phases. But the ** shortage of science teachers** is a big challenge and we need government to encourage more students to pursue STEM education.
As CBC continues, continuous teacher training will be key to curriculum implementation and improving learning outcomes for JSS students.