A total of 16,000 junior school intern teachers will be employed in 2026 to support the Competency Based Education (CBE).
The recruitment will happen after the July 2026 national budget.
Making the revelation, Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba said this will go a long way to address the staffing crisis in Grades 7, 8 and 9.
CS Ogamba was speaking during a Citizen TV’s ‘Elimu Mashinani’ segment held in Kilifi on September 23, 2025.
He said the government has so far recruited a total of 76,000 teachers and this will increase to 100,000 by January.
He however raised uncertainty over confirmation of the current serving junior school teachers who are anticipating conversion to pnp after their one year contract.
This is after he said the teachers will be confirmed after serving for one to two years as interns.
Currently TSC is finalizing recruitment of 24,000 junior school intern teachers for a one year contract.
Teacher who applied were invited this week for the interviews which also involve documents verification to confirm authenticity and validity.
Approximately 190,000 unemployed teachers applied for the internship vacancies declared by TSC.
The Commission gave teachers till 9th September 2025 to apply online for the jobs after it activated the online recruitment portal on 24th August.
The employment of the 24,000 junior school teachers is on a one year internship basis starting 1st January to 31st December 2026.
However TSC scoresheet shows priority will be given to unemployed teachers with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, Technical subjects then Languages respectively.
Teachers with one Science subject plus any other subject (Biology/…,Chemistry/…, Physics/ ….,) combinations have been awarded 65 marks.
Mathematics with any none science subject combinations have been awarded 55 marks.
Those with one technical/ or Creative Arts Subject (Home science/…, Computer studies/…., Business studies/…, Music/…, Drawing & design/…, Art & design/…, woodwork/…, Electricity/…, Aviation technology/…, Electronics/…..Building & construction/…, Metalwork/…, Power mechanics/…. PE/…) have been awarded 40 marks.
Language teachers with one language and any other subject (French/…, English/…, Kiswahili/…, German/…, Arabic/…, Mandarin/……) have been awarded 25 marks.
However Art teachers, those with one Art and any subject combinations e.g. History/…, CRE/…, Geography/…, IRE/., HRE/…Life Skills/… have suffered a blow. TSC has awarded only 5 marks.
This has sparked protests with the Art teachers terming the scoresheet discriminatory.
The Commission has previously warned that there is dire shortage of science teachers in the country.
During her appearance before the National Assembly education committee, former TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia had stated that despite having over 400,000 unemployed teachers nationwide, the commission is struggling to recruit teachers for science subjects.
She noted that many schools, especially junior secondary school (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.”
“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.
This move deals a blow to many unemployed teachers with Art subject combinations who are looking forward to be considered for internship.
In November 2024, TSC during recruitment of 20,000 JSS intern teachers, the Commission favoured science teachers and those with technical subjects like Drawing and Design.
Teachers with science subjects combinations as well as those with technical subjects had a higher success rate in the recruitment exercise compared to those with art combinations.
In fact in some sub counties only science and technical teachers were picked. Those successful were posted to schools in January 2025.
TSC INTERVIEWS.
Teachers invitated for interview, shall be required to present originals and clear photocopies of the following documents;
1) National identification card (ID)
2) Certificate of Registration as a teacher
3) Diploma or Degree certificate and official transcript
4) KCSE certificate or its equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one re-sat exams)
5) KCPE certificate or its equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one re-sat exams)
6) Primary and secondary school leaving certificates and other relevant testimonials
7) National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) Card (where applicable)
8) An affidavit sworn under the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act. Cap 15 of the Laws of Kenya to explain the variance in names
9) Letter of certification of results by KNEC (where applicable)
After verifying documents for the applicants, TSC will then require the successful ones to sign a one year internship agreement before posting them to various schools to support the Competency Based Education (CBE).
The teachers will then be retooled courtesy of TSC, CEMASTEA and KNEC.
The teachers will be trained on the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency Based Assessments (CBA).
The Teacher Internship Programme is a one year programme meant to equip and sustain competencies of persons entering the teaching service.
The programme targets unemployed registered teachers to be assigned to learning institutions where their teaching experience will be enhanced through mentorship, coaching and exposure to practical teaching experience.
The internship period will be for twelve months though previously some intern teachers served for two years.
Teacher internship is not a remunerative engagement. However, interns attached to Junior Secondary schools will be eligible for a monthly stipend of Kshs. 20 ,000/=.
The stipend will be paid subject to statutory deductions like SHIF, Housing levy, and NSSF where applicable.
On successful completion of the Internship Programme, teacher interns will be awarded a certificate.
TSC awards 50 marks to teachers who served on internship terms during pnp recruitment thus making conversion to pnp for those who served on internship automatic.
