The Teachers Service Commission Responds to Complaints on its Recruitment Portal

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been in the headlines recently because of the rampant technical issues that have been reported pertaining to its online recruitment portal. This is even as the Commission is undertaking probably the greatest number of teacher recruitment drive in the history of this country that is filling 46,000 teachers’ jobs. Most unemployed teachers have been able to wait and look forward to this recruitment process which they have been made however numerous applicants have been frustrated by the non-functioning portal system leading to complaints and outcry.

Challenges of the Recruitment Portal

The TSC recruitment portal, which was meant to bring about convenience and transparency in the application process, has since the pronouncement of the drive been having some malfunctions. Many applicants reported having issues with the portal such as loading taking a long time, inability to log into the portal, submitting documents but getting feedback that there are errors, and incidents where the system hanged or refused to respond at very critical points in the process.

“I have tried for days to upload my documents, but the portal keeps crashing,” cried a frustrated teacher from Nakuru County. “For the most of us who are job seekers, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, hence it is heart breaking such challenges have to be endured when one is attempting to submit an application for a job.”

Such sentiments have been reported from other regions as well, with many candidates worried that the glitches would hinder them from being shortlisted. A number of people have implored the TSC to prolong the application timeline so that everyone can get time to present their papers.

Response by TSC to the Portal Issues

Following the complaints, the Teachers Service Commission, TSC acknowledged the system glitches that the online recruitment system experienced and reassured candidates that measures were being put in place to correct the hitches. In a press release about TSC issues on the Thursday of the week, CEO Dr Nancy Macharia made it clear that the commission had not only acknowledged the problems, but also that they had mobilized their technical team to deal with the situation as soon as possible.

“We appreciate the gravity of the recruitment exercise in question, and the anger some applicants have been subjected to thanks to the system errors. The IT department is putting additional effort to ensure the system is up and running, and we will make every effort that every entitled applicant is catered for,” Dr. Macharia stated.

Dr. Macharia, in order to assuage fears, said that the Commission would push the deadline for applying to that advertised position by one more week thus giving candidates more time to fill in their applications comfortably, without rushing. She also advised that the applicants should wait a little more as the technical support was working on when to upgrade the system.

A Massive Recruitment Drive

The ongoing recruitment drive is aimed at solving the issue of teacher shortage which the education sector in Kenya has experienced for many years. The recruitment that is open to all qualified persons is expected to fill teacher vacancies within the primary and secondary schools up to over 46,000 positions. The drive comes at an opportune moment, more so after the rolling out of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which has put more pressure on schools to have trained teachers.

According to TSC, very soon every classroom due to the high enrollment will have a teacher which will reduce the teacher –pupil ratio more so in the public schools which are said to be packed and further enhance the education standards within the nation. Of the 46,000 vacancies, 30,000 have been allocated to interns while 16,000 will be permanent. In the former case, young recruits get training with a salary attached in the guise of an internship, while the latter offers job security to career experts.

High Demand and Competition

The recent recruitment exercise has received a lot of attention from teachers seeking jobs as thousands of applications were received within as few hours when the portal was open. The high rate of interest in the teaching jobs shows the existing level of competition for jobs in the country specifically in the education job market.

For a majority of the applicants, getting employed by the TSC is a great milestone. “This opportunity has been long overdue for me,” disclosed John Kimani who had been teaching under short internal contracts in some private schools. “It’s quite hard to get a job nowadays. The TSC provides job security and support that most of us require.”

Regardless of the difficulties in the portal, the aspirated shortlisted candidates are going ahead with their applications in a bid to clinch one of the available positions. The Commission’s commitment to ensuring fairness and transparency in the selection process has played an important role in assuring the applicants.

Optimizing the Recruitment Process

Despite the challenges associated with the recruitment portal’s technical aspects, such shortcomings have also brought into sharp focus the necessity for improving the infrastructure for current and future mass recruitment exercises in the TSC. The agency has pledged to enhance its systems aimed at addressing the problems in question to avoid their occurrence in the years to come.

In a statement to the press, Dr. Macharia clarified how the future changes in the recruitment process will help in improving the existing protocols and systems of online job recruitment and applications. “All candidates will be assured of a fair and effective access to the recruitment exercise and all systems put in place will be enhanced to cope with the expected high traffic on the next outreaches,” she remarked.

Moreover, the TSC is strategizing on the provision of other avenues to cater for the needs in support of the applicants by the introduction of a technical assistance call center and other new regions thanks to the introduction of more physical application sites for people with less or no access to the internet.

Looking Foward

Exactly as the TSC seeks to address the issues with the portal and efficient the recruitment process, the emphasis still remains on being able to fill the 46000 gaps with qualified teachers who will make a difference in schools in the country. This is their most ambitious drive since it will go a long way in curing the teacher shortage in Kenya and enhancing the quality of education in general.

The candidates are now relaxing regarding the submission of the applications due to the elongated deadline. In addition, many believe as this TSC has assured a due process will be followed, a rational and objective planning will be done. However, the success of the recruitment exercise will depend highly on the commission’s capacity to resolve the technical issues and enhance the efficiency of the process.

While they wait for the next step of the recruitment process, the Teachers Service commission is the center of focus as everybody anticipates a good recruitment exercise that is advantageous to the education sector in Kenya.