P1 Teachers Rush to Enroll in SNE Courses as TSC Faces Staffing Crisis

P1 Teachers Rush to Enroll in SNE Courses as TSC Faces Staffing Crisis.

Primary school teachers are increasingly enrolling in Special Needs Education (SNE) courses offered by accredited institutions.

Reports indicate that P1 teachers are pursuing these courses in large numbers, aiming for career advancement following the Teachers Service Commission (TSC)’s announcement of a significant staffing shortage in special schools and units.

The diploma programs available include Autism, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties, Hearing Impairment, Deafblind, Intellectual Disabilities, Gifted and Talented, Visual Impairment, Physical Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, and Inclusive Education.

Only candidates undertaking Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) accredited SNE diploma programs will qualify for promotion.

TSC acknowledged the staffing crisis in special institutions and assured that practicing teachers with SNE qualifications would be deployed to enhance learning in these schools.

The Commission requires that primary school teachers seeking enrollment in SNE courses hold a Primary Teacher Education (PTE) certificate, commonly known as a P1 certificate, and have a minimum of two years of teaching experience.

Phased Deployment Strategy

The third phase of teacher deployment to special schools and units commenced in early January, following the initial phase in September of the previous year.

The process aims to deploy a total of 3,600 teachers to these institutions. To address the shortage, TSC plans to reassign some of the 18,057 excess primary school teachers.

TSC Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, revealed that both primary and secondary school teachers would be deployed to special schools and units.

While addressing the Cohesion and Equal Opportunities Committee last year, she emphasized that budget constraints necessitated a phased approach to these deployments.

The first phase occurred in September 2024, the second in January 2025, and the final phase is scheduled for June 2025.

Targeting SNE-Trained Teachers

The Commission aims to deploy teachers holding diplomas or degrees in Special Needs Education.

Macharia explained that in May 2024, TSC had already recruited and assigned 1,763 teachers to various institutions. However, the country’s special needs schools still face a shortfall of 5,362 teachers.

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Primary school teachers who obtain SNE diplomas will be assigned to special primary schools and units according to their area of specialization. TSC has already gathered and forwarded teachers’ details to Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) for deployment processing.

The collected information includes teacher names, TSC numbers, county, sub-county, zone, current school, proposed special school or unit, phone number, and specialization in SNE, such as Hearing Impairment (HI), Visual Impairment (VI), Mental Handicap (MH), Autism, Cerebral Palsy (CP), and Deafblind.

P1 Teachers Rush to Enroll in SNE Courses as TSC Faces Staffing Crisis.

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