The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is hatching a plan to replace over 7,000 primary school teachers who exited service through natural attrition.

TSC will carry out mass replacement exercise in September this year in addition to recruitment of 24,000 junior school intern teachers.

The JSS intern recruitment will start on Tuesday, 26th August, 2025 and close on Monday, 9th September, 2025 midnight.

In a statement after signing of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2025 – 2029 the Commission said the hiring and replacement will cost sh 2.4 billion.

“Recruit additional teachers at a cost of Sh2.4 Billion. Already, the Kenya Kwanza Government has recruited a total of 76,000 teachers in a span of just two and half years,” read part of the statement.

TSC has already advertised the 24,000 JSS internship jobs and only replacement is awaiting.

However unemployed primary school teachers are unhappy especially following TSC advertising recruitment of junior school teachers but none for primary school teachers.

The unemployed primary school teachers protested advert citing discrimination.

The teachers who held demonstrations in different parts of the country including Nairobi, demanded immediate employment by TSC.

For three consecutive year now, the Commission has not employed primary school teachers through mass recruitment.

TSC has only been hiring them to replace teachers who have left service through natural attrition.

Contrary TSC has been employing junior and senior school teachers on both internship and permanent and pensionable terms.

Mr. Francis Odiyo, the unemployed P1 teachers spokesperson, says the teachers will not participate in this years KPSEA, KJSEA and KCSE should TSC fail to employ them.

Speaking during a protest in Nairobi, Odiyo noted that some teachers have stayed for over ten years without employment.

In April this year, former TSC CEO Nancy Macharia who had appeared before the National Assembly Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee to answer questions on why thousands of PTE teachers remain jobless despite a high teacher shortage in several counties said they have excess teachers in primary schools.

Macharia stated that the Commission had advised colleges to stop intakes as there is surplus of primary school teachers in payroll and the job market.

“After curriculum changes removed Standards 6, 7, and 8, we ended up with surplus teachers in some primary schools. We’ve advised against training more primary teachers, yet colleges continue.” explained Macharia.

TSC has since embarked on deploying the excess of 18,000 P1 teachers to special and junior schools.

The Commission has categorically stated that it needs more teachers in junior and senior schools.

TSC said it needs Sh70 billion to recruit 98,461 teachers for both junior and senior schools in order to address the current shortage.

Chief Executive Nancy Macharia, who appeared before the Senate National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities Committee, denied claims that the commission had failed in its recruitment role, leaving it to politicians to dish out employment letters in villages.

The commission has so far recruited 68,313 teachers for junior schools on permanent and pensionable terms.

These are 9,000 teachers recruited in the 2022/23 financial year, 39,550 teachers in the 2024/25 financial year and an additional 20,000 intern teachers who reported to schools in January 2025.

In Junior schools there is a shortage of 72,442 teachers, while in secondary schools under the 8-4-4 system, the shortage stands at 26,039 teachers.

Out of 68,313 Junior Secondary School teachers recruited, the Kalenjin community took the lion share with 10,769 followed by Luhyas (10, 466), Kamba (9,557), Kikuyu (8,799), Luo (8,721) and the Abagusii at 6,796 respectively.

Though Senators pressed Macharia to explain why politicians were reportedly issuing teacher recruitment letters at funerals, with senators Chute and Omtatah questioning how such teachers were absorbed into the service.

She said she was unaware of the incidents but had seen media reports, adding that teacher recruitment is guided by TSC policies and procedures aimed at ensuring transparency and professionalism.

Primary school teachers who most went back to college to upgrade their PTE certificates to UDPTE to be inline with the CBC are frustrated by TSC employment ban.

The Commission has also been awarding only 5 marks to teachers who upgraded their PTE certificates during employment.

TTCs have also released to the job market the first DPTE cohorts. Colleges held graduation ceremonies in June after the teachers completed the three year Diploma teaching course.

TSC plans to place the teachers at job group C1 upon employment inline with the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.