TSC: 39,017 registered teachers aged 45 years still unemployed

A record 39,017 registered teachers aged 45 years and above are yet to be hired by the Teachers Service Commission, MPs heard yesterday. 

The registered teachers, who are about to retire, according to documents tabled before a Parliamentary committee, were born between 1966 and 1978. The data is as at June 2025.

TSC was appearing before the National Assembly’s Education committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly to appraise the lawmakers on the plight of the registered but unemployed aged teachers. 

The commission’s acting CEO, Eveleen Mitei, however, clarified that some of the teachers in the category are engaged elsewhere. 

“I wish to clarify the fact that the teachers are indicated as unemployed by the commission does not necessarily mean that the said teachers are available in the job market. Majority of these teachers have pursued different career paths in the various sectors of our economy including teaching in private schools,” Mitei said. 

But Melly sought that the commission sieve through the database to establish those who are still not employed from those engaged. 

“The fact that you are employers of primary and secondary schools, we do not want Early Childhood Development teachers, give us clear data on those aged 45 and above and are not employed,” Melly said. 

The Tinderet MP also directed TSC to furnish the committee with a policy paper on how it would handle the affirmative action if an employment opportunity arose, since some of them could have since pursued other interests. 

“The aim of the statement sought was to see how we can have affirmative action to get them employed, give us the list of all people in two weeks,” Melly stated.

Mitei asked for time to have the affirmative action deliberated before reporting back to the committee on how the cases of aged tutors will be handled. 

She explained that the TSC database shows that out of the 39,017 teachers, only 2,837 disclosed their counties and subcounties, while 36,180 did not provide this information. “Accordingly, the commission is not able to analyse with accuracy the counties the said teachers hail from. Out of the 2,837, 56 are from Uasin Gishu, 10 from Homa Bay, 8 from Migori and 7 from Nandi,” she said. 

Further told the committee that during the Financial Year 2024/25, the commission received a total of 1,264 applications from teachers who are above 45 years. 

Out of the number, the Commission recruited a total of 516 teachers aged between 45 to 59, distributed across the country.

 In cases where two or more candidates score equally after all parameters are considered, age is used as a tie-breaker, with preference given to the older applicant. 

To adjust the current recruitment framework, with the aim of discouraging prolonged delays in employment and late entry into the profession, Mitei told the MPs that it has been seeking an enhanced budget. 

“The commission has consistently appealed to the National Assembly for an enhanced budget for recruitment of teachers. Recruitment of teachers across the country is premised on availability of funds and existence of vacancies in authorised establishments. The commission has placed its case for more funds to facilitate recruitment of teachers,” she said. 

Mitei also said that the commission is implementing a scoring criterion that accords more marks based on age and the year of graduation, with the oldest getting more marks, as part of adjusting the current recruitment framework. 

“While the commission’s policy framework considers age and year of graduation to mitigate late entry into the profession, it is worth noting that the number of teachers recruited is premised on the budget allocation,” she said.