New rules for recruiting senior school teachers
Education
By
Lewis Nyaundi
| Apr 15, 2026
TSC tightens recruitment rules, approving 51 subject combinations for senior school teachers under CBE. [File, Standard]
The Teachers Service Commission has tightened rules on recruitment of senior secondary school teachers, unveiling 51 approved subject combinations that will determine who qualifies for employment under the Competency-Based Education (CBE), and warning that those trained outside the list risk being locked out of teaching jobs.
The teachers’ employer, in a notice dated April 10, stated that only teachers trained in the approved subject combinations will be registered and considered for employment in senior schools, effectively locking out graduates whose training falls outside the prescribed pairing list.
The subject combination will shape training, registration, and recruitment under the Competency-Based Education (CBE), according to the notice.
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“TSC has approved subject combinations for training, registration, and recruitment of secondary school teachers. These combinations determine eligibility for employment in public secondary schools. Only candidates with these approved combinations qualify for TSC registration and recruitment. Candidates pursuing unapproved combinations may be ineligible for employment,” the notice by the director staffing Antonina Lentoijoni reads.
The approved combinations have been grouped into five broad categories: Science, Languages, Mathematics, Humanities, and Technical subjects, with Language emerging as the largest group while Mathematics has the fewest approved pairings.
At the same time, TSC is working with the Ministry of Education to train teachers who will teach Chinese, as the implementation of foreign languages faces a major teacher shortage.
The Language category has the most combinations, while Mathematics has the fewest.
TSC said the move is aimed at reducing confusion in hiring, ensuring all subjects are adequately covered in schools, and guiding training institutions on appropriate subject pairings for senior school specialisation pathways.
The Language group leads with 14 combinations, including English paired with Literature, and Kiswahili combined with subjects such as CRE, History, Geography, IRE, Home Science, and Physical Education.
In the Mathematics category, six combinations have been approved. These include Mathematics paired with Business Studies, Geography, Computer Studies, Chemistry, Biology and Physics.