NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 – The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is seeking a Sh36 billion increase in its 2026/27 budget to accelerate teacher recruitment and finance rising salary commitments under the current collective bargaining agreement.
The Commission has asked Parliament to approve Sh422.96 billion, up from Sh387.18 billion in the current financial year, underscoring the growing weight of personnel costs in the education sector.
“In the financial year 2026/2027, the Commission proposes to recruit an additional 16,000 teachers to continuously address the existing teacher shortage and achieve the envisioned goal under the government manifesto.”
“During the 2026/2027 financial year the Commission budget estimates is proposed at Kshs. 422.9563 billion.”
The proposed hiring is targeted at junior and senior schools as the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) transitions fully into upper grades, a shift that has intensified demand for subject-specific teachers.
The recruitment plan follows the hiring of 100,000 teachers over the last three financial years, part of efforts to narrow a deficit previously estimated at 116,000.
Beyond fresh recruitment, the budget increase is anchored on the implementation of the second phase of the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which will cost Sh8.4 billion in the coming financial year.
The Commission will also allocate Sh7.2 billion to convert 20,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms, effectively expanding the government’s long-term payroll obligations.
Budget statements show that more than Sh412 billion of the proposed allocation will go to teacher resource management, which covers salaries, promotions, and statutory benefits.
The scale of the allocation highlights the central role of wage expenditure in Kenya’s public education financing and the limited fiscal space available for non-personnel investments.
While the Commission says the funding will stabilize staffing levels and support smoother CBC implementation, it has cautioned that key areas remain underfunded, including insurance covers for teachers and operational support for decentralized field offices.
