Wajir leaders demand end to teacher recruitment bias as staffing crisis deepens

The teacher shortage in Northern Kenya has once again come under scrutiny, with Wajir leaders demanding fair recruitment practices and more staff to stop learners in the region from falling further behind their counterparts in other parts of the country.

The leaders raised concerns on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, arguing that schools in the region have faced years of inadequate staffing and that the government needs to take more deliberate action to address the imbalance. They also called for an end to what they described as preferential treatment in teacher recruitment, insisting that Northern Kenya deserves equal consideration when vacancies are filled.

The concerns were raised during a graduation ceremony at Wajir Teachers Training College, where 571 trainees received certificates after completing training in various teaching disciplines.

The graduation comes at a time when educational institutions in the region are still grappling with a shortage of teaching personnel, prompting fresh demands for the government to strengthen recruitment and ensure that schools have enough qualified staff.

Tarbaj MP Hussein Abdi Barre said the government had made commitments during the election campaign to tackle the teacher shortage, adding that some progress had been recorded through recruitment exercises and support for teacher training institutions.

However, he maintained that the efforts should be sustained and expanded to ensure schools across Northern Kenya receive adequate numbers of teachers.

The leaders argued that the region's staffing challenges cannot be addressed without fair recruitment policies that account for the historical disadvantages faced by learners in Northern Kenya.

They said correcting the imbalance would give children in the region a better chance of accessing quality education and reduce the differences in learning opportunities between Northern Kenya and other parts of the country.

571 trainees complete teacher training

Wajir Deputy Governor Ahmed Muhumed welcomed the graduation, calling it an important moment for the region and a step toward strengthening the country's education sector.

He challenged the newly qualified teachers to take up their responsibilities with commitment, noting that their skills would play an important role in shaping the future of children and contributing to national development.

“This is not just a graduation ceremony, but it is a mark of reality, a mark and a departure from our recent history and a mark of moving away from the shackles set by previous administrations of TSC,” Muhumed said.

The institution was established in 2015 as part of efforts to increase the number of qualified teachers available in the region and respond to the challenges facing local schools.

The latest graduation has added 571 trained personnel to the pool of potential teachers, although leaders maintain that more recruitment is necessary to address the staffing needs of schools in Northern Kenya.

Senate raises concerns over teacher recruitment

The calls from Wajir come against the backdrop of wider concerns about teacher shortages and the need to increase investment in education across the country.

In October, the Senate Education Committee asked county governments to allocate more funds to Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) centres and speed up the hiring of teachers following visits to learning institutions in Machakos County.

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu said county governments needed to accelerate recruitment so that newly employed teachers could report to classrooms and attend to learners.

“As we talked to the governor and the CEC for Education, they said that they are already employing teachers. And so I would say that they should quicken the process of employing the teachers so that they can all come to class to teach,” Kavindu said.

While county governments are responsible for ECDE services, the concerns raised by Wajir leaders reflect a wider national challenge of ensuring schools are adequately staffed with qualified teachers.

The leaders want recruitment and education funding efforts to address these gaps, particularly in regions that have long faced disadvantages in accessing educational opportunities.