TSC’s proposal to address the shortage of special school teachers.
To alleviate the severe shortage in the institutions, the Teachers Service Commission will hire 3,600 teachers for Special Needs Education (SNE) centers over the course of three phases.
As more educators transfer to conventional schools, “where career progression is almost guaranteed,” the number of educators working in special schools has been declining.
According to information provided by the teachers’ employer, 1,763 teachers have already been hired and assigned to classrooms. Because of financial restrictions, the remaining teachers will be hired between September 2024 and June 2025.
“To address the shortage, TSC has developed a phased deployment of teachers to special needs schools due to budgetary constraints,” stated TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia during her appearance before the Cohesion and Equal Opportunities Committee of the National Assembly.
“TSC has hired and assigned 1,763 teachers to classrooms as of May 2024. In September 2024, January 2025, and June 2025, an additional 3,600 teachers will be assigned to classrooms,” she continued.
Ms. Macharia informed the committee chaired by Adan Haji that there was a 5,362 teacher shortage in the nation’s special schools.
The commission, she continued, had also created and put into effect a special staffing standard for special education facilities.
According to Ms. Macharia, the kind and degree of the students’ disabilities were taken into consideration for each instructor when determining the appropriate class size.
“For example, the class size for learners with intellectual disabilities is set at four, while the class size for learners with physical disabilities should be 15,” she stated.
She went on to say that the goal of the action is to guarantee that educators provide special needs pupils with the attention they require.
“The lower the number of special needs learners per teacher, the better for the provision of quality services,” stated Ms. Macharia.
During a meeting in Naivasha last year, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) came to an agreement to hire the teachers.
In an effort to draw and keep teachers in special education, the TSC also announced at the same time that allowances would be introduced.
Ms. Macharia disclosed that instructors who are blind, deaf, dumb, or physically challenged are now eligible for a Reading Facilitation or Aid payment.
“Special schools allowance is also another incentive introduced to teachers with special education skills,”said Ms Macharia.
She continued, saying, “These incentives are a way of acknowledging the additional challenges faced by teachers and are in addition to the standard allowances such as hardship and commuting among others.”
Committee member Fred Ikana, a member from Shinyalu MP, claimed that the hardships faced by special needs school teachers deterred their peers from applying for positions in the establishments, which contributed to the scarcity.
Vice chair of the committee Liza Chelule noted that more work was still required but applauded the commission for its efforts to improve the welfare of teachers in special needs schools.
The member of parliament for Nakuru County stated, “The committee visited special needs schools in parts of Coast, Nyanza, Western, and Rift Valley and established that the schools and teachers operated in deplorable conditions.”
The Senate Committee on Education expressed concerns in September of last year about what it described as the Ministry of Education’s unjust treatment of students and students with disabilities, as well as the staff members who work with them.
Speaking during a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Education at the Lake Naivasha Resort, the parliamentarians disclosed that, since 2018, the government had neglected to examine capitation fees for special schools that educate thousands of children nationwide.
The committee felt that parents should not pay any money to raise the capitation payment, so it rejected the Ministry of Education’s request to charge parents whose youngsters had special needs.
The suggestion to boost the capitation grant for those learners with exceptional needs by having parents pay Sh9,500 was turned down by the committee.The senators also pointed out that the institutions’ supervisory and teaching-to-student ratio was insufficient.
Nominated Senator Peris Tobiko disclosed at the meeting that the ministry’s 2018 plan to review the capitation grants to schools was never brought to Cabinet for approval.
“There is need for an increased allocation to fund the differentiated unit cost model that was developed in 2018 to ensure that schools are adequately funded,” Ms Tobiko stated at the time.
Additionally, it was disclosed that the unpaid balance of Sh6,319,225—or 22 months’ worth of arrears—owed to the special schools’ employees.
It was also disclosed at the conference that the yearly budget of Sh655 million, which is distributed evenly among students with special needs with the exception of those who are blind or deaf, has stayed constant for the last six fiscal years among special and integrated boarding schools and units.
Every year, learners who are deaf-blind receive Sh29,662, whilst learners with other disabilities receive Sh10,284.
43,266 students are enrolled in special boarding schools as of right now.
The Senators pressed the Ministry of Education to guarantee that students with special needs have the right learning aids and sufficient infrastructure to enable access to classrooms and other educational facilities.
TSC’s proposal to address the shortage of special school teachers.
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