Kitui takes lion’s share of teacher vacancies as Nairobi gets the least

Teachers Service Commission chief executive Gabriel Lengoiboni. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By SAMUEL SIRINGI

IN SUMMARY

TSC directs schools to only hire applicants who have registered with commission and give preference to first-time job seekers
Employer orders affirmative action in favour of job seekers with disabilities
Kitui county is to recruit the highest number of new primary and secondary school teachers in the latest exercise that started this week.

According to Teachers Service Commission (TSC) statistics released on Friday, the county has been allocated 503 places. It has 280 and 223 vacancies in primary and secondary schools, respectively.

It is followed by Kakamega, which has 429 spaces— with primary schools taking 279 posts.

Homa Bay county is third with 429 slots of which 227 have been set aside for primary schools.

In all, the commission on Friday advertised 11,139 new positions for teachers in primary and post-primary institutions in its website— www.tsc.go.ke. Of these, it will be hiring 5,122 teachers in primary schools and 4,878 in secondary and other post-primary institutions. The rest of the teachers— 1,139— are meant to replace those who have left the service over the past one year due to natural attrition.

Nairobi has been allocated only 40 places at the secondary school level and none at for primary institutions, making it the county with the least slots.

At the secondary school level, Rift Valley and Eastern provinces have been allocated the lion’s share of the vacancies. The two regions will take up 1,059 and 1,012 places, respectively.

According to the statistics, Nyanza will take up the third largest share of 951 positions in secondary schools. Western Province has been allocated 616 vacancies while Central and Coast have been given 613 and 378 slots, respectively.

North Eastern Province, with 157 vacancies, has the second least vacancies after Nairobi.

Technical and teacher training colleges will be allowed to recruit only 52 teachers.

Some 1,000 teachers are set to be hired to replace staff who left service through deaths, retirement, resignations and sacking.

The TSC has directed that only applicants who have registered with the commission will be interviewed for the jobs.

Names of interviewed candidates ranked in order of performance during the selection for each vacancy will then be presented to the commission, said Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni.

“Those without registration certificate must produce a print-out of the application form as evidence of application for registration,” Mr Lengoiboni said.

Preference, he said, shall be given to applicants who have not been previously employed by the Teachers Service Commission.

Mr Lengoiboni asked interviewing panels to ensure they display interview dates on notice boards at the counties, sub-counties and institutional offices, seven days before the actual date.

“If for any justifiable reason, the date of the interview is changed, each applicant should be notified of the new date in not less than two days before,” he said. He ordered that all applicants be given equal opportunity.

“In case of a tie, applicants with disabilities may be considered on affirmative action so long as they meet the stipulated recruitment criteria,” Mr Lengoiboni said.