MOMBASA, Kenya, Nov 6 – The Teacher Service Commission (TSC) has announced an ongoing teacher recruitment drive for the North Eastern region in response to a significant mass exodus of educators from the region due to security concerns.
In the previous month, numerous teachers stationed in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa counties declined to report to their duty stations due to escalating security issues.
TSC proceeded to issue them with interdictions, saying that they had abandoned their responsibilities when they participated in protests at the TSC headquarters in Nairobi.
The teachers were demanding transfers to other parts of the country.
On Monday, TSC’s Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, confirmed that the teachers who had not returned to work had been interdicted.
She said the investigation into their conduct was ongoing, adding that due process will be followed.
She emphasized that TSC would continue recruiting teachers for the North Eastern region throughout the year.
“We maintain an ongoing recruitment process for North Eastern to replace those who have left. North Eastern is the only region where teacher recruitment remains not closed,” she said.
Macharia explained that teacher recruitment occurs at the sub-county level to encourage residents in North Eastern to take up teaching positions in the region.
“If you are a teacher and want to work in North Eastern, you are free to apply,” she said.
Reports indicate that the North Eastern region requires more than 2,000 teachers to address the staffing gaps in public primary and secondary schools.
Nancy Macharia was speaking after supervising the distribution of Kenya Certificate of Secondary School (KCSE) examination papers in Mombasa.
She also acknowledged that Kenya still faced a shortage of teachers for subjects like Islamic Religious Education and Physics, citing insufficient resources as the hindrance to recruiting more educators.
She said with adequate funding, TSC would be able to recruit more teachers to fill these subject-related shortages.
