Kapenguria Member of Parliament Samuel Moroto has raised concern over the shortage of teachers in West Pokot County saying the situation is slowing down the education standards in the County.
Moroto said parents from marginalized Counties are forced to pay teachers to help their children who are in public schools for them to be able to compete with their brothers and sisters in private schools. “The County depends on PTA teachers who aid in teaching learners in various schools. We were expecting the government to allocate more slots to marginalized Counties but the number it intends to employ this year is a big blow to education sector,” he said.
He also asked the Teachers Service Commission to allocate more slots to marginalized Counties when recruiting new teachers to enable them compete with others nationally.
Moroto added that many teachers have finished college but have not been employed. Speaking in is constituency, he said that children in the area are now thirsty for education yet the government was lowering the rate of teachers’ employment. He revealed West Pokot County has a deficit of over 3,000 teachers, something which hasn’t gone down well with education stakeholders.
He said there is a need for the teachers’ employer to consider marginalized Counties first when deploying teachers, with West Pokot topping the list. He also lamented the lack of enough books in school, with the new curriculum already being implemented.