A staggering 98,261 teaching positions remain unfilled as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has yet to hire from a pool of 343,485 registered educators. This includes 134,914 Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers, 124,061 primary school instructors, and 84,510 post-primary educators, all currently waiting for employment.
As the crisis deepens in public schools, the TSC’s outgoing chief executive, Nancy Macharia, highlighted the alarming teacher deficit, which is projected to worsen with the introduction of senior secondary schools in 2026. Macharia pointed to inadequate budget allocations as a primary cause of this shortage.
In an effort to streamline hiring, the TSC has launched an online registration portal, as explained by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during a Senate session. He stressed that teacher recruitment hinges on available funding and authorized positions. Responding to Senator Joyce Korir’s questions about the unemployed, Ogamba revealed that over 343,000 registered teachers are currently not in TSC employment, a figure that includes those working in private institutions or pursuing other careers.
Ogamba also admitted that the TSC lacks comprehensive data on ECDE teachers employed by county governments and is working to gather detailed statistics on unemployed registered educators.
Senators raised concerns about the trend of hiring recent graduates over those who have been waiting for years. Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot called for a breakdown of employment data by county, highlighting the disparities in hiring practices. He noted that while some regions have welcomed graduates from as recently as 2017-2018, others still have jobless graduates from as far back as 2010.
Senator Margaret Kamar pointed out that the TSC’s evaluation criteria often favor newer graduates, leaving those who graduated in 2010 or earlier in the lurch. “It’s disheartening to see graduates waiting for over a decade while others from 2015 or 2020 find jobs,” she lamented.
Acknowledging the oversight, Ogamba admitted that the system has not adequately prioritized older graduates. “It’s a reality that some individuals remain unemployed for as long as 25 years. We are contemplating affirmative action to support those who graduated earlier,” he stated, expressing frustration over the plight of trained teachers who reach retirement age without ever securing a position.
During the recruitment process, Ogamba assured senators that the TSC aims to prioritize earlier graduates to foster fairness and mitigate the long-term unemployment issue among educators.