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{
"id": 491848,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491848/?format=api",
"text_counter": 136,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "October 2, 2014 SENATE DEBATES 14 Sen. Karaba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wish to assure hon. Senators that this is not casual business that I am handling. I have held meetings with the Secretary to the TSC and his team. I have also had meetings with the other relevant stakeholders, including the university commission. So, we are a serious Committee. I have a very detailed report with me here. It is only that I want my friend, Sen. Munyes to get his question right. The report details the issue of shortage of teachers, grades that a teacher should have before joining a teachers training college and why some teachers do not report to some stations once appointed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one thing I would like you to note is that it is imperative that a teacher, once trained, can teach anywhere in Kenya. Sometimes they are posted to the districts of their choice. However, they can teach anywhere in the Republic because they are trained teachers. However, when they are posted to certain schools and they find that there are no houses, surely, humanly, they are not comfortable to teach there. That is why I was saying the community has a role to play so that they attract teachers in those areas. The other thing is that we need to stress on the issue of security. This is not a matter of feeling that it should be provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology but a national programme. If security is maintained in those areas bordering inter territorial areas, I am sure the peace that will prevail in those areas will attract teachers to teach in the said areas. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, regarding what you have asked about recruitment of grade “C” students, that will remain under the policy of the Ministry. There are very many cases of students attaining grade “C”. Where we think the situation is worse, we should encourage students to continue learning and getting grades which are commensurate to the training of a student who has attained a grade “C.” Once a teacher is posted to a station, the requirement and policy of the TSC has been that the teacher will not be transferred unless he has taught for five years. That is a policy. Any time there is a contradiction of that, we can contact the TSC to tell us why that is not happening. The other issue is about this report. I want to table these papers so that anybody who wants to have details of his or her county can access all the details. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, lastly, I would like to report to this Senate that we have a shortage of 91,230 teachers in the country and to have teachers recruited, we require money. That is the money we need to get from the Senate; either today or any time soon so that teachers are recruited. This year alone, 5,000 teachers were recruited against the existing 293,060. That is the number of the existing teachers in the country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this year alone, we recruited 5,000 who are not enough. That is just a drop in the ocean. We have 5,000 and are struggling to fill the gap of 91,000. That gives us a very big difference. Therefore, we need money to recruit more teachers. That is the money we need to budget for in the next financial year. I beg to lay the documents on the Table."
}