The government, through the Ministry of Education, on Wednesday, June 28, unveiled plans to recruit over 24,000 teachers to bridge the gap experienced across schools countrywide.
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu noted that the recruitment exercise will kick off at the start of the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
Machogu was speaking during the 46th Annual Conference of the Kenya Secondary Heads Association (KESSHA) at Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa.
The CS assured school heads that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) would ensure equity during the deployment of the teachers.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chairperson Jamleck Muturi announced that following Machogu’s directive, qualified teachers will be able to start applying for the positions starting the week beginning Monday, July 3.
In an effort to curb the shortage of teachers in the country, Muturi further announced that the Kenya Kwanza government had set aside Ksh4.6 billion to hire interns.
Apart from recruiting experienced teachers and trainee tutors (interns), TSC also revealed that it had received a Ksh1 billion capitation for promotions, with a substantial chunk earmarked for principals.
Additionally, starting July 1, the government would not disburse capitation to schools through a quarterly system but instead, school heads will receive capitation in the ratio of 50:30:20 for the first, second and third terms respectively.
During the conference, Machogu noted that the government would hire a total of 60,000 teachers in President William Ruto's first year in office.
Ruto’s administration, which came into power on September 2022, has already employed 36,000 new teachers in the largest recruitment exercise in history undertaken by TSC.
While the majority of the 36,000 employed in the 2022/2023 Financial Year were interns, TSC recruited 9,000 teachers under permanent and pensionable terms.
The government, however, did not break down how many teachers would be employed under permanent and pensionable terms in the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
The 24,000 new teachers will help solve the education crisis in the country but according to Muturi, it fell short of Ruto’s promise to recruit 35,000 teachers.
The President, while speaking at Limuru Girls Secondary School on May 20, 2023, indicated that the government would match teachers employed in the 2022/2023 financial year in the subsequent financial year.
