Unemployed P1 teachers are banking on President William Ruto’s State House promise on hiring despite TSC freezing their recruitment.
The primary school teachers are protesting a decade of TSC unemployment following rollout of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
The teachers have in several occasions held mass protests to demand their employment by the Commission.
TSC has however maintained that primary schools across the country are overstaffed a situation it attributes to the recent restructuring of the basic education system.
According to the commission, the migration of Grade 7 and 8—formerly Class 7 and 8—to the junior secondary level left many primary institutions with more teachers than needed.
The Commission CEO, Eveleen Mitei, numbered the excess primary school teachers to be around 18,000.
Mitei noted that because of this shift, a surplus emerged in lower primary staffing, reducing the urgency to recruit additional primary school teachers.
As a result, the commission announced it will no longer conduct mass recruitment for primary teachers, stating that it will only replace those who exit service through natural attrition.
TSC also advised Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) to stop intake and training of primary school teachers.
At the same time, the commission highlighted a severe shortage of teachers in both junior and senior school levels,.
TSC said it will continue prioritizing recruitment in junior and senior schools to address rising learner populations and curriculum demands.
This is despite assurances from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) leadership.
KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu had told unemployed P1 teachers that the union had reached an understanding with President William Ruto for TSC to prioritize them in the next mass recruitment exercise.
Knut together with other teacher unions had met President Ruto at State House in September last year after they were formally invited.
During the meeting with teachers, Ruto made a number of promises including lifting ban on P1 teachers recruitment starting July 2026.
The President also ordered the Ministry of Education and the TSC to analyse how many teachers aged 45 and above remain unposted.
The Commission recently collected details from unemployed teachers in response to President Ruto’s order.
However, TSC still says while opportunities will continue to emerge, they will be significantly narrower for primary school teachers compared to those targeting junior and senior school vacancies.
TSC has however been deploying the excess primary school teachers to junior schools as well as special schools and units thus downsizing their numbers.
The P1 teachers feel cheated by the system which assured them of employment after upgrading their PTE certificates.
The teachers registered in various Teacher Training Colleges for the upgrading Diploma in Primary Teacher Education (UDPTE).
TSC had declared the upgrading as a mandatory requirement for employment as it would align the teachers with the new curriculum.
However TSC has continued to employ P1 teachers even without upgrading. The upgraded teachers also feel cheated as the Commission only awards 2 marks to those with upgrading certificates during recruitment.
The teachers are looking forward to see if President Ruto will fulfill his promise that will see them get hired enmasse.