TSC orders head teachers to release excess teachers to understaffed schools

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Dr Evaleen Mitei has directed school heads to release excess teachers to understaffed regions.

Speaking in Mombasa yesterday during the annual conference and annual general meeting of the Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association (KCSHA) at the Sheikh Zayed Children Welfare Centre, Dr Mitei also asked heads to reopen schools promptly next year.

She warned that heads who fail to update records of teachers joining or leaving the service will be held personally accountable under existing policy and regulations.

She said the promotion of 30,034 teachers was being considered, with interviews to be held soon. The commission is also finalising a job evaluation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). “We are finalising job evaluation in collaboration with the SRC to prepare ahead of the CPD of 2026,” she said.

Dr Mitei said strengthening the teaching service is a collective responsibility and urged teachers to adhere to the code of ethics. “Quality of education depends on the quality of our teachers, and therefore the Commission is motivating and training them to deliver quality education,” she said.

TSC chairman Dr Jamleck Muturi said the commission was supporting schools through ongoing recruitment and deployment to ease shortages. It is also training teachers, especially for junior schools, and re-tooling them for the Competency Based Education (CBE) curriculum, with emphasis on curriculum design, assessment for learning, classroom management, digital literacy and inclusive education.

“Protect time for learning. Guard the timetable. Protect the learner’s voice. Create room for projects, clubs, sports, arts and community service. Protect equity. The child with a disability, the girl at risk of dropping out, the one who learns from a poor household, the one with a special talent that does not show on a written test: each of them is your responsibility,” he told the heads.

KCSHA national chairman Fuad Ali asked TSC to raise teacher recruitment from the current 26,000 and to promote teachers to keep them motivated. He said more than 95 per cent of comprehensive school heads hold degrees, the minimum requirement for managers.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu said TSC must improve terms and conditions of service. He called for comprehensive schools to stay under one head and rejected the push for Junior Secondary School autonomy. Comprehensive school heads are adequately qualified, he said, and junior secondary teachers should remain in those schools. TSC should instead promote existing head teachers to run junior secondary institutions.

“The issue of autonomy, that song must end by tomorrow, since the Education Bill in Parliament stipulates the comprehensive school model,” he said. “Teachers must be part of the reforms process, and principals and head teachers should be at the centre. Before any decision, teachers should be consulted.”

Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the county now has 13,000 children in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres, up from 8,000, with 15 new institutions under construction.

“Our ECDEs are currently free. We are considering hiring more ECDE teachers to ensure the teacher-child ratio is satisfactory,” he said.