Looming crisis as teacher shortage stands at 98,000
By Mercy.Mwai, April 9, 2025A crisis is looming in the education sector after the teacher’s employer revealed the country is not only facing a shortage of 98,261 tutors but also lacking qualified and trained personnel.
Teachers Service Commissions (TSC) Chief Executive Nancy Macharia who appeared before MPs to shed light on how far the commission was in terms of complying with the constitution told MPs that lack of adequate budget to recruit teachers has led to shortages in public schools thus impeding the right to access basic quality education.
She said: “Currently the teacher shortage stands at 98,261 including JSS teachers. This number is anticipated to rise in 2026 following the roll out of senior schools. TSC has not achieved the optimal number of teachers since its establishment hence the need for more budgetary allocations.”
The revelation came on the day the commission refuted claims that MPs have taken up the role of employment as they are the ones who have been dishing out TSC hiring letters.
Media creation
Macharia explained that the allegations are as a result of media creation as employment of teachers is clearly outlined in the commission’s website.
She said: “I read this thing in the papers. If you can check our website you will see how we carry out our recruitment. However, I am concerned because these things give TSC a very bad name.”
The matter was brought by Matungu MP Oscar Nabulindo who sought to know why cabinet secretaries are the ones who have been distributing employment letters. Committee chairperson and Runyenjes MP Karemba Muchangi also joined in the debate saying it is unacceptable to leave such a crucial mandate of hiring teachers to the political class.
He said: “I believe that we are setting a very bad example if the recruitment of teachers must be done by the political class. It is incumbent on us to bring this issue to an end.”
New learning areas
Macharia said in her presentation to MPs who sit in the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) that the situation has been made worse as they also lack qualified teachers to teach new learning areas that have been introduced under the Competency Based Education (CBE).
The said subjects in question include leather craft, picture making, sculpture, jewelry and ornament making, media technology woodwork, media technology, marine and fisheries technology, general science, indigenous languages as well as marine and fisheries technology.
Despite the lack of adequate teachers, she raised concerns over rampart /sporadic establishment of new schools without corresponding budgetary allocation to recruit the teaching staff.
Some of the new schools established, she said, are too close to each other, bear the same names and are only different as they identify themselves with objectives that are newer than the schools.
She said: “Increased budget for recruitment of teachers to meet the staffing needs of the newly established schools. Strengthen coordination between key stakeholders including sponsors, investors, politicians to ensure planned establishment of new schools and expansion of existing ones.”
Macharia further told the MPs that due to insufficient budgetary allocation they have been unable to adequately promote teachers as required.
She revealed that as at December 2024, 200,022 teachers were qualified for promotion as they had completed three years and above in one grade with others joining the teachers on an annual basis.
On the medical cover for teachers, she regretted that some of the teachers have suffered whenever they visit schools not because they are not covered but because there is no budgetary allocation for the same.
While she said that the commission requires Sh54 billion for the scheme, they were only allocated Sh20 billion for insurance. The sentiments by Macharia came on the day MPs raised concerns over the failure by TSC to promote teachers while in other cases the commission had failed to employ teachers who cleared colleges way before as it was favouring graduates.