The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, carries out periodic recruitment of teachers for all public schools in Kenya. TSC revises and produces fresh recruitment guidelines from time to time and they reviewed the teachers’ recruitment score sheet as well as the interview marking scheme.
TSC released the guidelines for the mass recruitment of teachers in 2023 for primary teachers ahead of school reopening on Monday, January 23.
According to the notice, the applicants will be among the 30,000 teachers who will make the cut and will be invited by TSC to verify their documents. The same communication will inform the applicants of the interview venue, date, and time seven days from the publishing date.
TSC indicated that the verification will be conducted at the sub-county level and overseen by the TSC sub-county directors.
“After the verification exercise, the TSC Sub-County Director shall compile a merit list of all applicants whose documents have been verified,” TSC guidelines read in part. The merit lists shall be used to recruit teachers and any subsequent recruitment within the financial year,” Nancy Macharia said.
Following the advertisement for recruitment of teachers, Boards of Management are required to conduct the selection exercise for the advertised vacancies in their institutions. The Selection Panel will be expected to exercise the highest degree of transparency and accountability, as stipulated in the Public Officers Ethics Act, and TSC Code of Conduct and Ethics 2015.
The Head of the Institution is required to induct the panel members on the relevant sections of the Act before the commencement of the selection exercise. All applicants must be registered teachers as per Section 23(1) of the Teachers Service Commission Act Cap 212.
Those without Registration Certificates must attach a printout showing verified status as evidence of application for registration.
However, applicants who fail to meet registration requirements will not qualify to be recruited. Applicants who apply for confirmation of results from KNEC should give the address of the County Director to whom they have submitted their applications.
Applicants working in other Government Departments and who meet the requirements are eligible to apply. Applicants will be required to submit their applications to the Secretary Board of Management of the respective institution with a copy to the office of the respective TSC Sub-county director.
Upon receipt of applications, Heads of Institutions must acknowledge them in writing (Appendix VII). On completion of the shortlisting process, Heads of Institutions should promptly advise those who do not meet the shortlisting criteria (specifying the reasons).
The TSC Sub-County Director shall compile a list of all applicants in every Institution for ease of reference and present it during the interview. The date, venue, and time of the interview should be displayed on notice boards at the County, Sub-Counties, Zonal and Institutional offices.
The total maximum score in each category will be out of 100. Professional P1 teachers will be required to hit a maximum score of 5 points which will not include their teaching practice
Teachers with 6 – 28 points will receive a maximum of five scores depending on how they perform during the interview. Those with 29 – 50 points will be rated out of three maximum scores and those with 51 – 64 points in P1 qualifications will receive two scores.
In terms of age, the maximum score which will be given by the selection panel is 20. Teachers above 50 years old will be favored as they will receive the maximum 20 scores depending on their performance before the selection panel. Those below 43 years will receive the least number of five scores.
The scores issued to applicants seeking to join primary schools as teachers will vary depending on their length of stay since qualifying. Those who have stayed in service since 2010 will be rated out of 70 points, 2011-65 points, 2012-60 points, 2013-55 points, 2014-50, and 2015-45 points.
Those who have stayed in the service since 2016 will be rated out of 40 points, 2017-35 points, 2018- 30 points, 2019-25 points, 2020- 20 points, and 2021- 15 points, while those who qualified in 2022 will get 10 points.
A diploma in Primary Teacher Education (CBC Upgrade) will get a maximum score of five. However, TSC did not indicate the pass mark for selection to join the teachers’ service commission ahead of mass recruitment.
