Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has revealed that the government plans to employ 24,000 teachers to bridge the gap experienced across schools nationwide.
The CS while speaking during the 46th Annual Conference of the Kenya Secondary Heads Association (KESSHA) at Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa on Wednesday, June 28 announced that the recruitment exercise will kick off at the start of the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
He further affirmed that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) would ensure equity during the deployment of the teachers.
Likewise, TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi stated that following CS Machogu’s directive, qualified teachers will be able to start applying for the positions on the week beginning Monday, July 3.
Furthermore, Muturi announced that the Kenya Kwanza government had set aside Ksh4.6 billion to hire interns as part of efforts to curb teacher shortage in the country.
TSC also revealed that it had received a Ksh1 billion capitation for promotions, especially for principals.
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As from July 1, the government will not distribute 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.
CS Machogu also announced that the government would recruit a total of 60,000 teachers in President William Ruto’s first year in office.
So far, the Kenya Kwanza administration has employed 36,000 new teachers in the largest recruitment exercise in history undertaken by TSC.
Whereas many of the 36,000 employed in the 2022/2023 Financial Year were interns, TSC recruited 9,000 teachers under permanent and pensionable terms.
Nonetheless, the 24,000 new teachers will help solve the education crisis in the country. However, Muturi noted that it fell short of Ruto’s promise to recruit 35,000 teachers.
