Shortage of teachers, over-staffed classes rock Kilifi schools
By Ronald Mwadzombo, July 28, 2025Shortage of teachers in local public schools in Kilifi County has left classrooms understaffed and students at risk of losing valuable learning opportunities.
In some schools, class sizes have ballooned, and teachers are forced to teach outside their subject areas.
St Thomas Girls’ Secondary School Principal Eunice Nwaiseghe says the school has a shortage of teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
“We are a school that has grown very fast, but we have a shortage of TSC teachers. We have 28 teachers and we are supposed to have 44 teachers, so the rest of that gap the parents are supposed to pay through the board of management (BOM),” she said.
“We have a few BOM teachers employed by the parents, and it has been a burden to the parents. Parents cannot afford,” she added.
In addition, she says that the coverage of the school syllabus has been equally affected, and teachers struggle so much.
‘’With the form ones because we are transitioning to the new system of education, it has been a toll order for us,” said the Principal.
Mwaiseghe now wants the TSC to employ and deploy more teachers to the school so as to address the acute shortage.
Education stakeholders in Kilifi have expressed concern, worrying that children are not receiving the support and interventions needed, and if not addressed, it will hamper student progress.
KUPPET Kilifi branch secretary Opolo Kopolo says Kilifi has 181 public secondary schools and about 530 junior schools.
“With all this population, the number of secondary school teachers in Kilifi is around 2,400. If you compare these statistics with the number of subjects per school, you will realise the huge gap,” he said.
He stated that Kilifi has a shortage of about 1000 teachers in secondary schools alone. He disclosed that the shortage of teachers has forced the teachers who are currently working to handle more lessons.