On 21st January 2026, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Professor Julius Ogamba, publicly affirmed that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) would proceed with a nationwide staffing balance exercise in February. The announcement was met with mixed reactions, some welcomed it as overdue, while others expressed anxiety about relocation and safety.
Yet, the truth remains clear: a country that claims to value education cannot continue with a system where some schools are overstaffed while others remain chronically understaffed. Staffing balance is not an administrative inconvenience, it is a moral necessity, a constitutional duty, and an act of good faith by the State toward learners, teachers, and the future of the nation.
As we prioritise the welfare of learners and parents, teacher safety measures should be given the first priority. The welfare of learners cannot be secured if those entrusted with teaching them are exposed to danger, hostility, or insecurity. Teachers are the backbone of education, and their safety is the foundation on which quality learning is built.
It is not by chance that many teachers prefer town schools. Town schools have proven to be safer, with better infrastructure, closer access to health facilities, easier security response, and stable social environments. This preference is not a sign of laziness or selfishness; it is a rational response to a reality that teachers face daily. When the environment is safe, teachers can focus on teaching. When it is unsafe, they are forced to focus on survival.
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The fear is not imaginary. The memory of teachers killed along the way, and of those who died in turbulent regions, is still fresh in teachers’ minds. Many educators have seen colleagues attacked, abducted, or threatened. Some have lost friends and neighbours. The trauma remains, and it influences decisions on whether to accept postings, remain in service, or seek transfers. This reality must be acknowledged openly. Teachers are not asking for special treatment; they are asking for basic human dignity and safety.
Across Kenya, staffing patterns reveal a painful contradiction. Urban and historically advantaged schools enjoy manageable teacher–learner ratios, stable staffing, and predictable learning environments. Meanwhile, far-flung, arid, border, and marginalised areas struggle with severe shortages. In some schools, one teacher handles multiple classes and subjects under conditions that make quality learning almost impossible. Learners in these areas suffer not because of lack of ability, but because of systemic neglect. When children in remote regions sit for national exams, they compete under unequal conditions. This is not just unfair; it is morally unacceptable.
Correcting this imbalance is an ethical obligation. But good faith demands honesty: staffing balance will fail if teacher safety is treated as negotiable.
Kenya’s Constitution guarantees the right to education and equality before the law, while obligating the State to protect vulnerable groups. Far-flung schools clearly fall within this mandate. However, teachers are also rights-holders. They are citizens entitled to safety, dignity, and humane working conditions. A policy that ignores this reality risks collapsing under its own weight. Teachers are not mere resources to be moved around at will; they are professionals, parents, and human beings. Their lives matter.
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This is why staffing balance cannot be mechanical. Equity is not achieved by force; it is sustained by trust. Teachers will not be motivated by threat; they will be motivated by confidence that the State, the community, and their employers care for their welfare. When a teacher is posted to a remote area without adequate security, housing, or support, the result is predictable: they either transfer out at the earliest opportunity or leave the service altogether.
This is not defiance; it is self-preservation. A system that loses trained teachers due to insecurity does not gain equity, it loses capacity. A teacher who resigns cannot be replaced overnight, and the most vulnerable learners pay the highest price. The education system does not collapse due to policy, it collapses due to neglect of human dignity.
The shift to competency-based education makes this risk even more real. Continuous assessment, learner support, remediation, and parental engagement require stability and presence. High turnover caused by fear or insecurity undermines the very goals the curriculum seeks to achieve. Posting teachers into unsafe environments without addressing security concerns is not reform; it is attrition by design.
This is where communities play an indispensable role. Staffing balance cannot succeed without peaceful, cooperative, and protective local environments. Teachers are not outsiders to be tolerated, but partners in building the future. A teacher who feels threatened will leave. A teacher who feels welcomed will stay, teach, and invest emotionally in learners.
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Peace is therefore not a peripheral issue, it is a foundational requirement. Communities that prioritise harmony, resolve conflicts peacefully, and protect schools create conditions where staffing balance becomes sustainable. Those that fail to do so inadvertently push teachers away and entrench educational disadvantage.
But the challenge is worsened by a political contradiction. Some legislators pressure TSC to deploy teachers to their constituencies, often to demonstrate influence or gain political mileage. Yet too often, these same leaders fail to ensure the most basic condition for teacher welfare: peace and security. They demand teachers, but they do not provide protection or stability. This inconsistency is not only unfair, it is dangerous.
Legislators should stop nagging TSC and Ministry officials by demanding teachers be sent to areas they fail to protect. Teachers are not political tools to be used for electoral campaigns. If a region is unstable, if schools are threatened, if the community is in conflict, then sending teachers there is not an act of service, it is an act of negligence.
A legislator who seeks teachers for their locality should not see them as political trophies. Teachers are not pawns in political contests. If a community is not secure, if schools are under threat, if the environment is unstable, then sending teachers there is not an act of service, it is an act of negligence. The State cannot balance staffing alone; it must be supported by leaders who are willing to guarantee the safety of those they call to serve.
The reality is that teachers in insecure areas face daily threats: banditry, cattle rustling, inter-communal conflict, and political violence. Their homes are vulnerable, their lives are at risk, and their families suffer. When the environment is unsafe, no policy can force teachers to stay. Even the most patriotic teacher will eventually choose self-preservation. Some will prefer to leave the profession entirely rather than work where their safety is not guaranteed.
This is a point that must be stated plainly. A teacher who leaves the profession is not merely an employee lost; they are a national asset lost. They have undergone training, invested years in service, and often carry emotional and professional commitment to learners. Losing them is a blow to the education system and to the communities they were meant to serve. The State should not be in the business of creating conditions that push teachers out of service.
Therefore, as TSC prepares for the February balancing exercise announced by Professor Ogamba, the success of this policy will depend on a three-part covenant: the State must deploy fairly and support consistently; communities must guarantee peace and acceptance; and teachers must serve with confidence that their lives matter.
The State has a responsibility beyond deployment letters. Posting teachers to remote schools must be accompanied by visible security assurances, decent housing, hardship compensation, psychosocial support, and clear emergency response mechanisms. Expecting sacrifice without protection is neither fair nor wise. Teachers are not martyrs; they are professionals whose work must be supported by the environment in which they operate.
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Equally, communities must recognise that they have a role in protecting teachers. The peace of a community is not just the absence of war; it is the presence of goodwill, mutual respect, and shared responsibility. When communities ensure security, resolve conflicts amicably, and shield schools from local tensions, they make their regions attractive for teachers to stay and serve. In doing so, they strengthen staffing balance from the ground up.
The success of staffing balance also requires transparency. Teachers must understand the criteria and rationale behind deployments. Where teachers are moved, they should be informed in advance, given reasonable time to prepare, and supported during the transition. A policy that is perceived as arbitrary will be resisted, and resistance will undermine the goal of equity.
The alternative is grim. Continued insecurity will not force teachers to comply, it will force them out. And when teachers exit the profession, it is the poorest and most remote learners who suffer first and longest. These learners already face multiple barriers: long distances to school, poor infrastructure, poverty, and limited access to resources. The last thing they need is a teacher shortage caused by insecurity.
If Kenya is serious about education equity, then staffing balance must be pursued honestly. Far-flung schools must be prioritised, but peace and safety must be guaranteed. Anything less is not good faith—it is wishful policy detached from human reality.
True equity is achieved not when teachers are compelled to stay, but when they choose to stay because they feel safe, valued, and respected. The State, communities, and leaders must therefore work together to create conditions where teachers are willing to serve, and learners are able to learn.
In February, TSC will make a decision that will either strengthen or weaken the education system. If the process is done with fairness, transparency, and safety, it will be an act of good faith that corrects historical injustice and brings Kenya closer to true equity. If it is done without addressing security and community responsibility, it will be a policy that collapses under the weight of human reality.
Kenya’s future depends on the success of its schools. The success of its schools depends on teachers. And teachers can only succeed when they are safe, supported, and respected.
Hillary Muhalya
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