Macharia reveals number of applications received for advertised teaching positions

By Peter Ochieng

Three weeks ago, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) advertised for 46,000 teaching slots across Primary, Junior Secondary and Secondary Schools across the country.

6, 000 slots were for Primary, 39, 550 for Junior Secondary and 450 for Secondary Schools.

TSC Chief Executive Officer (TSC) Nancy Macharia, on Wednesday revealed that 314,117 teachers applied for the 46,00 positions.

Speaking when she appeared before members of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, Macharia said of the applications, 93,646 were vying for primary teacher posts.

144, 177 applied for the junior secondary school slots, while 76,294 did cast their nets for positions of secondary school teachers. She said successful teachers will report to work when schools open for the first term, in January 2025.

“Currently, the commission is in the process of receiving the employment forms and offer of employment letters from its county offices. The teachers will report to schools by January 2025,” she stated.

Macharia told MPs that the Commission had received Sh13.4 billion to facilitate the transition of interns to permanent and pensionable terms of service, starting January 2025.

"All serving teacher interns will be employed on permanent and pensionable terms of service by January," she said, adding that the employment forms had already been issued.

Legislatures in turn urged the Teachers Service Commission to address staffing issues in schools, particularly the shortage of Science, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics teachers.

Committee chairman Julius Melly criticised the Commission's staffing methods, calling for a transparent framework for teacher promotions, particularly in under-resourced schools.

“Every sub-county should have sufficient teachers, especially in critical subjects such as science and mathematics,” he said.

Macharia took time to outline TSC’s preparedness for the transition to Grade 9 under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

She said they had recruited 48,550 teachers over the past two financial years. Of these, 39,550 are interns, while 9,000 were employed on permanent terms.