How TSC Boss Nancy Macharia Handled Pressure from Politicians and Unions for 10 Years (Exclusive)
Nancy Macharia, the outgoing CEO of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), has shared her experiences from her ten years in charge, especially during the many teachers’ strikes that affected schools.
In an exclusive interview, Macharia talked about the challenges of managing over 300,000 teachers, particularly when salary talks stalled.
She remembered how teachers’ unions, like Kuppet and Knut, organized nationwide protests that stopped classes in public schools for weeks.
Macharia said that balancing the demands of the unions with what the government expected was very difficult.
“Sometimes I felt stuck between two tough choices. Teachers wanted more money, but there wasn’t enough to go around,” she explained.
Despite these challenges, she believed that every strike was a chance to negotiate and find a middle ground.
She also discussed the controversial delocalization policy, which moved teachers far from their home areas and caused a lot of anger.
While she defended the idea behind the policy—to encourage unity and professionalism—she admitted it could have been implemented better with more input from those involved.
Looking back on her time, Macharia highlighted achievements like digitizing teacher records, introducing new training methods, and improving hiring processes. However, she recognized that not all her decisions were popular.
“I leave knowing I did my best. I made mistakes, but I also made important changes that will help teachers in the future,” she said.
As she prepares to leave, many in the education field are eager to see who will take her place and how they will deal with the ongoing challenges. For now, Macharia’s ten years at TSC have been some of the most significant in Kenya’s education history.
