TSC urges students joining university to consider courses in areas with shortage of teachers

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chairperson Jamleck Muturi has urged students preparing to join university in September to consider courses in areas where the commission is facing a shortage of teachers, including music and creative arts.

Speaking during the Kenya Music Festival Gala in Bungoma County on Tuesday, Muturi said the shortages were particularly severe in several subjects introduced or strengthened under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum.

“Allow me to inform the country that we have a very serious shortage of teachers in the following areas: music, creative arts, home science, woodwork, metalwork, and quite a number of those areas,” Muturi said.

He encouraged students who have already secured university admission to consider changing their courses to areas with shortages, pointing to the employment opportunities available in the teaching profession.

“I want to inform the universities that as students join universities in September, those are the areas you can consider telling them to switch to by changing their admission courses. We do not have teachers in those areas,” he said.

Muturi’s remarks could offer fresh guidance to thousands of students expected to begin university studies in September, particularly those still weighing their course choices and future employment prospects.

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The TSC chairperson also disclosed that the commission plans to promote 34,016 teachers in the coming weeks, with teachers in some of the shortage areas set to be considered in the process.

“Once I get proper information from the ministry and the chair, we will consider you,” Muturi added, as he spoke about teachers who had raised concerns over their progression and promotion prospects.

The announcement comes months after TSC and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) signed an agreement aimed at making the promotion of teachers faster and more streamlined.

The agreement, signed in June 2026, was anchored on the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed by the two parties in July 2025 and seeks to address longstanding delays in the promotion of teachers.

Under the revised arrangement, teachers seeking promotions are expected to face a less complicated process before their recommendations and appointments are considered.

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