TSC Initiates Continuous Teacher Recruitment for Kenya’s North Eastern Region

NAIROBI – The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has declared a year-round recruitment drive for teachers in Kenya’s North Eastern region, in response to the significant departure of educators from the area due to security concerns.

According to Kenya News Agency, who was overseeing the KCSE examination distribution in Mombasa, the commission has taken action against teachers who did not report back to their posts by interdicting them. The interdiction comes after last month’s protests at TSC headquarters in Nairobi, where teachers from Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa counties demanded reassignment due to the heightened insecurity.

“Interdicted teachers are on suspension pending an investigation, not dismissed,” Macharia clarified. She reaffirmed TSC’s commitment to replacing the staff in the affected regions, stating, “We recruit teachers for North Eastern throughout the year to replace those who have left. North Eastern is the only place that we do not close recruitment of teachers.”

The region reportedly requires over 2,000 teachers to address the staffing shortfall in its public primary and secondary schools. This ongoing issue was brought into sharp focus by the 2014 tragedy where 28 teachers were killed by suspected al-Shabab militants.

Macharia highlighted the localized nature of the recruitment process, aimed at motivating residents of the North Eastern region to pursue teaching positions locally. She also mentioned the nationwide shortage of Islamic Religious Education and Physics teachers, among others, attributing the scarcity to limited resources.

A total of 101,376 secondary school teachers have been enlisted to administer the KCSE examination, with Macharia emphasizing that only secondary school teachers will take on roles as invigilators, supervisors, and center managers, as per the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) regulations.

The TSC CEO reported that despite last week’s heavy rains, the examination process commenced smoothly across the six counties of the coast region. A multi-agency team is also in place to manage the examination period, including the use of helicopters to airlift exam papers to inaccessible areas, ensuring no interruptions in the exam distribution process.