Alphonse* trained as a P1 teacher in one of the many Teachers Training College (TTC) and graduated in 2011.
He has been waiting to be employed ever since he left college.
“I am tired of waiting. I wish I had done some other course, say electrical engineering or building and construction,” Alphonse told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
“I know many people who graduated before me and are yet to land jobs. At the same time, I know people who graduated in 2016 and have already been absorbed by TAC. It’s that frustrating,” Alphonse said.
Alphonse currently works as a Boards of Management (
He says the problem is not even the meager amount he is paid – but rather the fact that he was last paid in February 2021.
“The last payment came in February, and before that, I was paid last in 2020, around April when schools closed due to Covid-19 pandemic. I don’t know when the next payment will come,” he says.
Asked if he received payment Education CS George Magoha said he had ordered released to pay board teachers back in 2020, Alphonse said he never received a dime.
“That money never reached my school, and if it did, I was never paid, and so were my three other colleagues,” he said.
Anita* who graduated in 2015 has tried everything to land a permanent teaching job with TSC – but only ended up losing money in the process.
“The first time I was conned Ksh 30,000 in 2018. I met this guy who lived in one of the estates in Nairobi. I met him through one of my cousins. He promised me a teaching job – and claimed that he personally knew the TSC boss. I convinced my husband who was quite reluctant. I was broke, but still pulled resources with my husband and gave out Ksh 30,000. I was shocked one week later when I received a call from my cousin informing me that the guy had died,” says Anita who doubts if the guy really died.
“My cousin called me on the phone. I could hear people crying in the background – like it was a funeral or a hospital. He told me he was at Kenyatta National Hospital where our contact had apparently died of heart attack. I understand 30 people sent him money. All that was gone.”
The second time Anita lost money was in February or March 2021. This time she lost Ksh10,000 to a man she met on Facebook who had a fake account bearing the photo of TSC CEO Nancy Macharia.
“I really needed a job. So, I combed Facebook and saw this account which has Macharia’s photo – and there was a phone number. I called the number and a woman pretending to be Nancy Macharia spoke to me. I ended up paying Ksh10,000 to fraudsters,” says Anita.
A background check done by Mwanahabari.co.ke revealed over five accounts on Facebook bearing Nancy Macharia’s image.
Anita currently sells cereals in Nairobi as she waits for her turn to get a job even though she is not really optimistic.
“I have a friend who graduated in 2017 and already has a permanent job. The truth is that this field is riddled with corruption,” she says.
Meanwhile, the Teacher’s Service Commission has announced plans to scrap off the BEd Arts degree – and instead have Bachelor of Arts and Science – with those graduating now having to enroll for a 1 year Post Graduate Diploma in Education.
The fate of hundreds of BEd graduates – most of them currently working in banks, and other private sectors remain unknown. Most of these often rush back to teaching given the uncertainty and job cuts in the banks and other private sectors.
“I currently work at a bank in the city, but I am already thinking of going back to class to teach before TSC comes up with changes that will lock me out forever,” Sam told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
As of January 2021, the teacher shortage in public schools stood at 103,931, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia said. According to TSC documents, post-primary institutions have a shortfall of 57,822 teachers, while primary schools have a deficit of 46,109.
Meanwhile, there are 224,075 primary school teachers in 22,821 public schools; 117,120 secondary school teachers in 9,043 public secondary schools and teacher training colleges – according to TSC in information issued in April, 2021.