Parliamentarians are urging the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to change its recruitment model and prioritise the employment of teachers early in their careers to prevent cases of trained professionals retiring without ever being absorbed into the system.
The issue surfaced during a National Assembly Education Committee meeting where TSC defended its recruitment process as transparent and inclusive. Officials explained that vacancies are identified based on shortages, distributed proportionally, advertised publicly, and filled through decentralised interviews.
Despite this, MPs said many teachers who graduated over a decade ago remain jobless, while those who completed training just two years ago have secured employment. Homa Bay Woman Representative Joyce Osogo Bensuda warned that with the age limit set at 45, many trained teachers risk being permanently locked out.
Makueni MP Suzanne Kiamba said it was unacceptable that teachers in her county, now in their late 40s, had never been employed despite repeated applications. “These are individuals with 15 years of energy left, yet they may retire without ever working,” she said.
Lawmakers also flagged the unfair distribution of staff, where some counties are well supplied while others suffer severe shortages. Aldai MP Marianne Jebet Kitany noted that in some schools, one TSC teacher oversees hundreds of learners, forcing parents to hire additional teachers at their own expense.
Mombasa Woman Representative Zamzam Mohamed pushed for constituency-level data to expose these disparities. She also criticised the commission for neglecting promotions of long-serving teachers in favour of recent graduates.
The MPs concluded that while TSC’s policies appear well designed, the practical outcome is disheartening. They called for reforms that would ensure earlier recruitment of teachers, more equitable deployment, and a system that values experience as much as merit.
