More than 11,200 public schools across the country are facing leadership gaps, with teachers serving in acting positions as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) struggles to secure Sh2.2 billion in allowances owed to administrators taking on the extra responsibility.
The scale of the problem emerged in a report presented to the Senate Committee on Education, which showed that thousands of public primary and secondary schools do not have permanent heads or deputies.
TSC said 7,620 public primary schools have either head teachers or deputy head teachers working in acting capacity. The situation is also common in secondary schools, with 3,612 institutions having either acting principals or deputy principals.
The figures were contained in a county-by-county assessment of the leadership situation in public schools. Kenya has 33,436 public schools, comprising 23,831 primary schools and 9,605 secondary schools.
The report showed that the shortage is more serious in some counties, particularly areas classified as arid and semi-arid.
At the primary school level, Kitui had the highest number of schools, with 1,376, followed by Kakamega at 911, Makueni at 901, Homa Bay at 879 and Machakos at 856 as of 2020.
Secondary schools have also been hit by a shortage of substantive principals. West Pokot recorded the highest number of acting principals at 112, followed by Narok with 70, Bomet with 58 and Wajir with 54. Mandera and Migori each recorded 46.
Mombasa had the fewest schools with acting principals at two, followed by Vihiga with three and Kirinyaga with five. Laikipia and Nairobi each had six, while Nyandarua recorded eight.
There are also wide gaps involving deputy principals. Kitui had 167 Grade C-D schools without substantive deputy principals, followed by Bomet with 165, Homa Bay with 151, West Pokot with 149 and Migori with 135.
Mombasa had one such school, Nairobi two and Embu four. Isiolo had six, while Lamu and Kirinyaga had seven each. Laikipia recorded eight and Elgeyo-Marakwet nine.
The shortage is not limited to secondary schools. The report showed that Kilur had 147 primary schools with acting head teachers, while Machakos had 116. Wajir recorded 316 and Mandera 101.
Mombasa had the lowest number at one, followed by Lamu with three, Isiolo with five and Laikipia with six. Nairobi did not record a school affected by the shortage of substantive head teachers.
Turkana had the largest number of schools without substantive deputy head teachers at 387. West Pokot followed with 345, Wajir had 292, Mandera 278 and Bungoma 273.
Kitui had 230 schools in the same situation, while Garissa recorded 220, Kakamega 217, Homa Bay 216 and Bomet 200.
The distribution of the affected schools points to a heavier burden in arid and semi-arid counties, where many school leadership positions are being held on an acting basis.
TSC acting Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei told the Senate committee that the problem was partly caused by the career progression guidelines introduced in 2016.
According to Mitei, the rules made it difficult for teachers to move through the ranks and did not give enough options for progression for those serving in school management and classroom roles.
"What the previous career progression guidelines did was they locked everyone on the lower level and created succession gaps on administrative cadres and perhaps contributes to why we have so many administrators acting because they don't meet the higher grades, "Ms Mites told the committee chaired by Nominated Senator Betty Montet.
The committee also sought an explanation over the failure to pay teachers who have been carrying out duties beyond their substantive positions.
Senator Catherine Mumma questioned why those serving in acting roles had not received their allowances.
Mitei said TSC had requested funds to clear the outstanding payments but had not received approval from the National Treasury.
The commission said its inability to make the payments was tied to the lack of approval for the Sh2.2 billion request.
The matter has therefore left two challenges facing the education sector at the same time: thousands of schools are operating without permanent administrators, while teachers who have stepped in to fill the gaps are still waiting for their acting allowances.