The Teachers Service Commission, TSC has revealed that poor pay has driven graduate intern teachers away amid teacher shortages at the Junior Secondary schools countrywide.
Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Education during a consultative meeting in Mombasa, TSC acting Chief Executive Officer Eveleen Mitei said the sector is “severely starved” of personnel despite ongoing recruitment efforts adding that Junior Secondary Schools are operating at only 50 per cent of their required staffing levels, leaving millions of learners underserved.
“Currently, 83,129 teachers are handling millions of learners in Grades 7, 8 and 9. Junior schools are staffed at only 50 per cent of the required levels,” Mitei said.
She noted that the Commission plans to recruit 24,000 intern teachers by January 2026 to ease the shortage, though stating that the stipend offered to interns discourages many applicants.
“Interns receive a gross pay of about Ksh20,000, which reduces to Ksh18,070 after statutory deductions, including the Social Health Authority and Housing Levy.” She said.
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Since the 2022/2023 financial year, the government has recruited more than 56,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms and 20,000 on an internship. However, Mitei said recruitment is still a major challenge, especially in the North-Eastern region, where advertised posts often fail to attract applicants.
“In undertaking recruitment of teachers in public schools, TSC has encountered challenges, including a lack of expression of interest in advertised posts in the North-Eastern region. Further, lack of teachers in the specific learning areas or subjects across the country, such as Music, Art and Design, may cause a lack of applicants,” she said.
To address the shortage, the government has allocated Ksh2 billion for the recruitment of 24,000 intern teachers, with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
“We’ve faced challenges, particularly in STEM subjects. But we believe the January recruitment will move us closer to our targets,” Mitei added.
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The internship programme, however, has come under sharp criticism from teachers and education stakeholders.
Kenya Association of Junior School Teachers (KAJST) chairperson and a former intern, James Odhiambo, described the prolonged internship as exploitative.
“It is inhumane for the state to keep graduate teachers in an internship for years. One year of teaching practice is enough. We are trained, qualified professionals, not trainees,” he said.
He faulted the internship pay, saying it does not match the workload, as interns do the same work as permanent and pensionable teachers but earn far less.
By Juma Ndigo
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