TSC seeks Sh422.9bn for 2026-27 financial year as it seeks to hire 16,000 teachers

TSC acting CEO Eveleen Mitei appears before the National Assembly Committee on Education, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly at Bunge Towers, Nairobi, on February 19, 2026. /DOUGLAS OKIDDY

The Teachers Service Commission has sought an allocation of Sh422.95 billion for the 2026-27 financial year to enable it to meet its strategic targets, including the recruitment of 16,000 teachers.

In its 2026-27 Budget Policy Statement to the Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Education, the commission said it requires Sh1.9 billion to recruit 16,000 additional intern teachers in the medium term to address staffing gaps in junior and senior schools.

Proposals tabled before the committee on Thursday by acting TSC chief executive Eveleen Mitei indicate that under the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformative Agenda (BETA), there was a plan to reduce a teacher shortage of 116,000 within two financial years.

However, the commission reported that it had recruited 100,000 teachers over the last three financial years.

“During the 2026-27 financial year, the commission budget estimate is proposed at Sh422.9563 billion,” the commission told the committee.

The proposed allocation represents an increase of Sh35.7 billion compared to the Sh387.2 billion allocated in the 2025-26 financial year budget.

The amount was part of the Sh702.7 billion total allocation to the education sector, including Sh7.2 billion specifically set aside for the recruitment of intern teachers and their conversion to permanent and pensionable terms.

Of the proposed 2026-27 budget, Sh412.37 billion will go towards teacher resource management, Sh1.58 billion has been earmarked for governance and standards, while Sh8.99 billion will cater for general administration, planning and support services.

In the 2025-26 financial year, TSC spent Sh377.51 billion on teacher resource management, Sh1 billion on governance and standards, and Sh8.59 billion on planning and support services.

For the 2026-27 financial year, the commission has allocated Sh2 billion for the promotion of 12,000 teachers across primary and secondary schools as well as teacher training colleges.

Retooling of 70,000 teachers on new learning areas in junior and senior schools will cost Sh1.5 billion, while the conversion of 20,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms will require Sh7.2 billion.

The commission also requires funding to train teachers under the School-Based Teacher Support System (SBTSS) and to support live streaming of lessons through World Bank-funded programmes, namely the Secondary Education Equity and Quality Improvement Programme (SEEQIP) and the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning (KPEEL).

Mitei confirmed that the two donor-funded projects have been allocated Sh184 million, comprising Sh100 million for SEEQIP and Sh84 million for KPEEL.

She added that combined loan funding from development partners for the two projects amounts to Sh477 million, with KPEEL receiving Sh227 million and SEEQIP Sh250 million.

Other priority expenditure areas include training and monitoring the implementation of the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) system and Performance Contracting (PC) across all public basic learning institutions.

The commission also plans to institutionalise the Teacher Induction, Mentorship and Coaching Programme (TIMEC) to curb cases of indiscipline within the teaching profession.

Additionally, TSC intends to train 23,000 teachers on ICT integration and remote learning methodologies and to onboard 56,000 teachers under the TIMEC programme across 300 schools.

Overall, the commission has set a target of hiring 47,000 teachers in the 2026-27 financial year, up from the 23,000 recruited in the current financial year.

Meanwhile, TSC has proposed an allocation of Sh16.5 billion for teachers’ medical cover under the Social Health Authority (SHA), but cautioned that the amount may be insufficient given the rising number of newly recruited teachers.

The commission said it requires Sh26.5 billion, leaving a funding gap of Sh10 billion.

The commission said it has so far onboarded more than 400,000 teachers and one million dependents onto SHA.