As the 2026 academic year unfolds, a jarring reality has set in for thousands of Kenyan educators: having a P1 certificate no longer guarantees a seat in a classroom. In a landmark session before the National Assembly’s Education Committee on February 19, 2026, Acting TSC CEO Evaleen Mitei delivered a “truth bomb” that has sent shockwaves through teacher training colleges.
Despite a national shortage of over 116,000 teachers, the Commission has officially confirmed a hiring freeze for primary school positions, citing an unexpected staffing surplus.
The surplus isn’t due to an over-abundance of teachers, but rather the structural collapse of the old 8-4-4 system. With the final transition of learners from Primary to Junior Secondary School (JSS), the “bottom” of the educational pyramid has shrunk.
Classrooms that once housed Standards 7 and 8 are now empty or repurposed, meaning the TSC requires fewer primary-level educators. “The demand has moved upward,” Mitei explained to lawmakers. Consequently, the Sh1.9 billion recruitment kitty for the 2026/27 cycle is being redirected entirely toward Junior and Senior Schools, where the deficit remains critical.
For the 300,000+ unemployed teachers on the TSC register, this shift represents a career-defining hurdle. The Commission has made it clear that “natural attrition” (replacing those who retire or pass away) will be the only pathway into primary schools for the foreseeable future.
To stay relevant, primary teachers are being urged to “retool” by acquiring diplomas or degrees that qualify them for the Junior School (Grades 7–9) or Senior School (Grades 10–12) levels, where the TSC is currently seeking 16,000 new specialists.
The news has not been well-received by Members of Parliament, who questioned the Commission on why thousands of educators with advanced academic qualifications—including Master’s and PhDs—remain stuck in lower job groups or unemployed.
While the TSC has allocated Sh2 billion for promotions, the priority remains on filling the technical gaps in the new CBC pathways rather than rewarding academic verticality. This has created a “qualification mismatch” where the country has too many generalist primary teachers and too few specialized instructors for the technical and science pathways of Grade 10.
With the announcement of the Sh422.9 billion budget and the upcoming recruitment of 16,000 teachers for higher levels, the TSC has issued a stern warning against fraudsters. As the March 9 deadline for several secretariat and ICT positions approaches, the Commission emphasized that all applications must be through the official online portal.
For primary teachers, the message of 2026 is clear: the era of “automatic” primary school employment is over, and the future belongs to those who can pivot to the specialized demands of the Senior School era.
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TSC primary teacher hiring freeze 2026, teacher surplus in Kenya, Evaleen Mitei TSC budget 2026, retooling for JSS and Senior School, TSC 16000 recruitment 2026/27, teacher unemployment Kenya 2026.
