Teacher shortage persists even as TSC hires 20,000 interns
The National Chairman Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association (Kepsha) Johnson Nzioka addressing at the Sheikh Zayed Children Welfare Centre in Mombasa during the closing ceremony of the Annual KEPSHA Conference on November 7, 2024.
Public schools that host junior schools across the country face staffing challenges despite government efforts to recruit 20,000 more teachers on contract under the programme commonly referred to as internship.
Schools face the challenge following transition of more than a million learners to Grade 9 under the competency-based curriculum (CBC).
Last year, the government converted 39,550 teachers serving in junior schools on contract to permanent employment.
Further, 8,378 other teachers deployed to primary schools were upgraded to teach in junior schools.
However, the addition of the new class poses a new challenge to the about 20,000 schools offering junior school studies.
According to data from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), despite efforts to recruit more teachers, a shortage of 72,422 teachers remains. Recruitment efforts include the conversion 39,550 interns to permanent positions and primary school teachers to junior schools.
The government has allocated Sh4.8 billion to recruit the 20,000 additional teacher interns, effective January 2025.
“We still face teacher shortages. Since yesterday, three to five teachers have been reporting to schools. If more interns are hired, it will help a lot to fill these gaps. Also, moving teachers from primary schools to junior secondary schools will help a great deal,” said Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association (Kepsha) Chairman Johnson Nzioka.
Schools are facing significant challenges, resulting in overcrowded classrooms, overstretched teachers, and a lack of subject specialists needed for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Junior secondary schools are feeling the impact the most. The CBC model, which prioritises practical learning and personalised instruction, demands smaller classes and educators with expertise in specific subjects, making the shortage even more critical.
In 2024 alone, 60,642 teachers, including 2,679 ToTs and special needs education (SNE) instructors, underwent training to handle junior school curricula. This included subjects such as mathematics, English, agriculture, and creative arts. The programme prepares educators for Grade 9 in 2025 and subsequent levels.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima attributed the crisis to inadequate political goodwill and insufficient funding, noting that the country faces a critical shortage of over 100,000 teachers in post-primary institutions, particularly in sciences and mathematics.
“We need more than 100,000 teachers in post-primary institutions, with the shortage in sciences and mathematics being particularly severe. The biggest obstacle is political goodwill, which is lacking, as the government prioritises infrastructure over education and fails to see the importance of investing in employment through financing,” he said.
He criticised the TSC’s reliance on internship programmes, calling them unsustainable and legally questionable.
“TSC is mandated to employ teachers permanently, not through internships. There is no law that allows TSC to employ interns. That’s why the internship programme was contested in court,” he stated.
Deploying primary school teachers to junior schools was described as a temporary fix. While some primary teachers meet the qualifications, this approach fails to address the core issue of inadequate staffing.
“TSC has proposals to address the shortage, but implementation depends on Treasury and Parliament’s budget allocation,” said Mr Nthurima.
During the town hall, stakeholders from various sectors, including the Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), and TSC Boss Nancy Macharia emphasized the importance of a multi-agency approach to addressing challenges in CBE implementation.
“The expected teacher establishment for Junior School currently stands at 149,350 teachers. To date, the Commission has recruited 76,928 (51.5 percent) teachers for Junior School, thus the projected shortage is estimated to be 72,422 (48.5 percent)," she said.
According to TSC, between April 2019 and September 2021, a total of 229,292 primary school teachers underwent training, equipping them with the skills necessary to deliver the new curriculum effectively.
However, TSC noted that the government’s allocation of Sh4.8 billion for the recruitment of additional teacher interns was lauded as a significant step toward addressing the teacher shortage.
"The government has further allocated Kshs.4.8 billion to engage 20,000 additional teacher interns who will be posted to Junior Schools with effect from January 2025. The total number of teachers now recruited and deployed to handle Junior School is 76,928," she said.
