TSC Reports 25,839 Senior School Teachers Shortage Ahead of Grade 10 Rollout.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has reported an urgent need for 25,839 additional teachers in senior secondary schools as the rollout of Grade 10 approaches next year. This demand highlights a critical staffing gap affecting the initial cohorts under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Appearing before the National Assembly Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee on April 8th, TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia stated that the combined teacher shortage in junior and senior secondary schools currently stands at 98,261. She emphasized that 72,422 teachers are required to bridge the gap in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) alone.
To ensure effective implementation of the CBC across Grades 7, 8, and 9, TSC requires a total of 149,350 teachers. Despite the urgent need, the Commission has only been allocated funds to hire 36,000 teachers in the current year. This number includes 18,000 positions on permanent and pensionable terms and another 18,000 as interns. These hires are intended to mitigate staffing shortages in both junior and senior schools.
According to Macharia, TSC has so far employed 76,928 teachers in JSS, which accounts for 51.5% of the required workforce. Of these, 39,550 were initially recruited as interns and later confirmed on permanent terms in January 2025. Additionally, 9,000 teachers were hired on permanent and pensionable terms, and 8,378 P1 teachers were deployed to JSS between 2023 and 2024.
In January, TSC recruited another 20,000 JSS teachers under a one-year internship program, following a budget allocation of Sh4.8 billion. This move is part of the ongoing efforts to fill teaching positions and support the transition to CBC.
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Since April 2019, TSC has retooled a total of 229,292 teachers in Competency-Based Curriculum and Competency-Based Assessment methodologies. Specifically, from May 2023 to November 2024, 60,642 JSS teachers underwent retooling. Furthermore, the Commission plans to retool 7,000 secondary school principals in preparation for the rollout of Grade 10.
TSC is under mounting pressure to resolve the looming crisis in JSS, where the current teacher-to-class ratio stands at 1:1. Addressing this imbalance is essential to ensure that CBC is implemented successfully and sustainably in the coming years.
TSC Reports 25,839 Senior School Teachers Shortage Ahead of Grade 10 Rollout.
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