60,000 Junior Secondary School Teachers To Undergo CBC, CBA Training

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 29- The Teachers Service Commission says plans are underway to train 60,000 junior secondary school teachers on Competency-Based Curriculum and Competency-Based Assessment (CBA).

The training will start immediately after the completion of marking of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in mid-May.

The training, the Teachers Service Commission said will adopt a phased (cascade) model of training that will start at the national level to the county and sub-county levels.

Teachers will be trained in specific learning areas in Languages, Pure sciences, Applied sciences, Mathematics, Humanities and Technical subjects.

“The TSC has continued to prepare all teachers for the phased implementation of the CBC. So far, we consistently ensured that relevant teachers were trained for all levels including Grade Six, which will be covered starting next month,” TSC chairperson Nancy Macharia said.

The total number of teachers trained in CBC in the last 3 years is 229,292 teachers. 

Meanwhile, Macharia said despite annual employment of 5,000 teachers, the country is still in a deficit of 114,581 teachers in primary and post-primary institutions due to increased enrolment arising from the increasing number of school-age children, 100 percent transition policy, registration of new schools and natural attrition factors.

“Despite this shortage, the Commission continues to ensure prudent utilisation of the existing teachers in both of our primary and secondary schools. From time to time, we have had to review staffing placements to ensure no part of our country is disadvantaged in terms of sharing the limited teaching resources,” she said.

“In line with this, the Commission will shortly be asking our field officers to conduct a routine exercise of assessing their sub counties to ensure that all schools have balanced teacher to learner ratios ahead of the start of the new academic calendar.  Any arising movements conducted in the local areas must have a human face and must be well discussed with all relevant offices to ensure equity for all of our learners in tandem with existing staffing norms.  We intend to conclude this exercise by May 9, 2022.”

Macharia was speaking during the release of the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education on Monday.