President William Ruto has announced plans to recruit an additional 24,000 teachers by January 2026, in what he described as a historic and ongoing education reform agenda under the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Speaking during the Madaraka Day celebrations held at the Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay County on Saturday, the President said the move is aimed at meeting the demands of Kenya’s growing population and addressing teacher shortages in public schools.
“We have undertaken the largest teacher recruitment drive since independence, employing 76,000 new teachers over two years, and are on course to employ an additional 24,000 by January 2026,” said Ruto.
He added that more than 23,000 classrooms have been built during the same period to help decongest learning spaces and create a conducive learning environment.
“This is aimed at easing pressure on existing infrastructure and shielding teachers and learners from the burden of overcrowded classrooms,” the president noted.
President Ruto highlighted that his government is committed to equipping learners with relevant skills and knowledge to thrive in the 21st-century global economy.
He lauded the Ministry of Education and the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform for guiding what he called the most transformational shift in Kenya’s education sector in over 60 years.
“We have successfully transitioned to a Competency-Based Education system, moving away from rote learning towards a dynamic, skills-based approach aligned with our socio-economic goals,” he said.
So far, over 16,000 new classrooms have been developed under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), winning praise from both local and international development partners.
The president also pointed to a new student-centered funding model at the tertiary level, designed to enhance equity and sustainability in education financing.
Under the new model, students from low-income households receive up to 90% of their tuition as government scholarships, while parents contribute only a small portion.
Ruto emphasized the government’s commitment to technical and vocational education, noting that the number of students enrolled in TVET institutions is expected to quadruple from 500,000 in 2023 to 2 million by the end of this year.
“In recognition of the transformative power of TVET in tackling youth unemployment, skills gaps, and poverty, we are aggressively scaling up investment in technical training,” he said.
