The Teachers Service Commission's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nancy Macharia, has warned that the country is short on science teachers.
When he appeared before the National Assembly education committee, Macharia stated that despite having over 400,000 unemployed teachers nationwide, the commission struggles to recruit teachers for science subjects.
She noted that many schools, especially junior secondary schools (JSS), are not adequately staffed with science teachers and that applications for these positions are rarely received.
“What stands out is the problem of science teachers. Based on our data, we will be able to determine the percentage of arts versus science teachers. However, it is clear that the majority are in the arts,” Macharia explained.
“I have never shied away from acknowledging the crisis of teacher shortages. We will recruit and redistribute teachers across all counties, but when we advertise for positions, we hardly receive applications for subjects like Physics.”
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The committee, led by Julius Melly, expressed concern about the implications of this shortage on students.
“We are aware of situations where arts teachers are teaching science. They often just read the material back to students—are we being fair to our students? Are they truly learning anything?” Kasipul Kabondo MP Eve Obara raised the issue.
Marakwet West MP Timothy Toroitich inquired about the extent of the science teacher shortage, asking, “Of the 400,000 teachers you mentioned are unemployed, what percentage are science teachers?”
Macharia promised the committee that they would analyze the data and provide accurate information on the severity of the problem.
“We have communicated with the education ministry and have reached out to our schools multiple times regarding the lack of science teachers. Action needs to be taken,” she stated.
She also assured the committee that all 46,000 intern teachers would be employed, and an additional 20,000 teachers would be hired in January.
