Members of Parliament from the National Assembly Education Committee have thrown their support behind the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in urging the approval of the proposed Ksh382.3 billion allocation in the 2025/26 budget.
Committee Chair Julius Melly made the appeal on Friday during a meeting with the Liaison Committee, emphasizing that the funds would facilitate the recruitment of 18,000 intern teachers, the hiring of 18,000 permanent secondary school teachers, and the promotion of 20,000 educators.
“These recruitments and promotions will help bridge the gaps in teaching resources while also motivating teachers through career progression,” MP Melly stated.
Beyond teacher recruitment, MPs highlighted that the funding would also play a crucial role in enhancing various aspects of the education sector.
This includes Ksh6.3 billion in university staff collective bargaining agreements deficit and Ksh20.9 billion for scholarship, capitation, and students’ loans in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) facilities.
The latter is also set to accommodate the 2024 cohort who will be enrolled in TVET institutions in 2025. An additional Ksh890 million is also being requested for constructing TVET centres in constituencies that lack them at the moment.
The request to employ additional teachers comes at a time, hardly weeks ago, when graduate teachers were complaining about the delay to obtain TSC numbers.
They were also dissatisfied with the length of internship programs, arguing that the length of stay should be cut down because the low remuneration meant that they could not sustain themselves for extended periods.
“We would like the government to reconsider the system. Instead of having a teacher on internship for one or two years, those resources could dramatically alter their lives if properly channelled,” a graduate teacher added.
The 20,000 promotion plan for teachers, first announced in 2024, has run into a series of hiccups.
Early last month, TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia revealed that 20,000 primary school head teachers waiting to be promoted to Junior Secondary School (JSS) principals would have to wait until the new CBA was negotiated.
When speaking at this year’s Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) conference, she urged school heads to work closely with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) so that they can have an accurate understanding of their roles as JSS administrators.