AT THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM: REFRAMING TEACHER WELFARE, STRUCTURAL REFORM, AND EMERGING ISSUES IN KENYA’S EDUCATION SECTOR

Dorothy Owuor Jonyo, Bonn Jonyo

Abstract


Teachers constitute the cornerstone of meaningful educational transformation, yet their welfare, professional identity, and structural positioning often remain overlooked in reform processes. In Kenya, debates around the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), teacher recruitment, professional development, and welfare reforms have intensified in recent years, underscoring the urgency of aligning systemic change with teacher empowerment. This conceptual paper contends that teacher welfare is not a peripheral concern but the cornerstone of sustainable reform. Drawing on global comparative cases—Finland, Rwanda, and Singapore—the study explores how structural reforms, recruitment models, gender equity, professional development, and governance arrangements influence teacher morale, retention, and instructional quality. The Kenyan case highlights tensions within the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), whose central role in employment, licensing, and regulation both stabilizes and constrains the profession. Using a conceptual-policy analysis, the article demonstrates that reforms which prioritize recognition, professional autonomy, gender equity, and systemic coherence yield stronger education outcomes. Comparative evidence shows that while Finland achieves high retention through trust-based professional autonomy, Rwanda leverages targeted professional upgrading to bridge teacher capacity gaps, and Singapore sustains excellence through structured professional growth and leadership pipelines. In contrast, Kenya’s fragmented reforms, contractualization of teachers, and underfunded professional development risk undermining teacher motivation and retention. The article concludes by recommending a recalibration of Kenya’s education reforms to position teacher welfare and empowerment as central pillars. Specific proposals include adopting inclusive professional development financing, expanding recognition systems, addressing attrition through talent management, enhancing equity in leadership promotion, and aligning TVET and higher education pipelines with school needs. Lessons from global comparators suggest that investing in teacher welfare is not a cost but a strategic foundation for national development.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


welfare, structural, Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), professional development, attrition, gender equity, comparative

Full Text:

PDF

References


African Union. (2016). Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016–2025 (CESA 16–25). AU Commission. Retrieved from https://ecosocc.au.int/sites/default/files/files/2021-09/continental-strategy-education-africa-english.pdf

Akaranga, S. I., & Ongong’a, J. J. (2019). The phenomenon of teacher attrition in public primary schools in Kenya: Causes and possible solutions. Journal of Education and Practice, 10(18), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP

Arar, K., & Oplatka, I. (2020). Teacher well-being and professional development: A global perspective. International Journal of Educational Management, 34(4), 709–722. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2019-0309

Business Daily Africa. (2024). Teacher shortage persists despite recruitment efforts. Retrieved from https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/education/teacher-shortage-persists-even-as-tsc-hires-20-000-interns-4881716

Chege, F., & Sifuna, D. N. (2021). Teachers and the implementation of curriculum reforms in Kenya: Challenges and policy implications. Africa Education Review, 18(2), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2021.1891987

ICT Authority. (2021). Status of ICT infrastructure in public schools in Kenya. ICT Authority.

ILO & UNESCO. (2021). Teachers in the post-COVID world: Policy responses, challenges and opportunities. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377897

International Labour Organization. (2021). Enhancing the attractiveness of the teaching profession. ILO.

Jepkemei, E. (2022). Teacher professional development in Kenya: Gaps, prospects, and future directions. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 6(5), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS

Kamau, S. W., & Waweru, S. N. (2020). The politics of teacher deployment in Kenya: A critical analysis. Kenya Journal of Education Policy, 2(1), 34–48.

Kariuki, J. (2022). Teacher welfare in Kenya: Policy gaps and emerging issues. International Journal of Educational Development, 91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102573

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Economic survey 2023. Government of Kenya. https://www.knbs.or.ke/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-Economic-Survey.pdf

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT). (2019). Memorandum on teacher welfare and professional development.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT). (2023). Teacher workload and administrative burden survey report [Unpublished report].

Kinyanjui, K. (2019). Equity and quality in teacher distribution: Lessons from Kenya. Prospects, 49(3), 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-019-09462-4

Kuppet. (2020). Policy position paper on teacher welfare and collective bargaining. Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers.

Ministry of Education (MoE). (2021). Implementation status report of CBC rollout in primary schools. Government of Kenya.

Ministry of Education, Rwanda. (2022). Teacher development and professional standards in Rwanda: Annual report 2022. Kigali: Government of Rwanda.

Munywoki, E., & Waithaka, J. (2022). Teacher migration and the Global South: Kenya’s experience. Journal of African Education, 3(2), 33–50.

Mwangi, P. W., & Njoroge, G. (2021). Digital divide in education: The case of Kenyan rural schools. Journal of Education and Information Technologies, 26(6), 7421–7439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10618-5

National Cohesion and Integration Commission. (2021). Conflict and education: Impact of insecurity on teachers in Kenya. NCIC.

Ngware, M. W., & Oketch, M. (2019). Teacher management in Africa: Issues and policy options. African Education Review, 16(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2018.1530906

OECD. (2019). Effective teacher policies: Insights from PISA and TALIS. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/effective-teacher-policies_9789264301603-en.html

OECD. (2020). Supporting teachers and school leaders in times of crisis. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd.org/education

Owuor, S. O. (2022). Teacher unions, labour relations, and education reform in Kenya: Emerging dynamics. Journal of African Education Studies, 14(2), 55–73.

Republic of Kenya. (2019). Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2019 on a policy framework for reforming education and training for sustainable development in Kenya. Government Printer. Retrieved from https://uoemtvet.embuni.ac.ke/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Session-Paper-No-1-of-2019.pdf

Sahlberg, P. (2018). Finnish lessons 2.0: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Finnish_Lessons.html?id=py7r-7Lz-w4C&redir_esc=y

Suleman, Q., Hussain, I., Syed, M. A., Parveen, R., Lodhi, I. S., & Mahmood, Z. (2018). Psychosocial problems as predictors of psychological distress among secondary school teachers. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 33(2), 527–546.

Tan, C., & Goh, C. (2019). Teacher professional development and leadership in Singapore: Policy and practice. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 39(4), 439–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2019.1652235

Teachers Arena. (2024). TSC reveals extent of JSS staffing deficit.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC). (2023). Annual report 2022/2023: Teacher management and welfare. Nairobi: TSC.

Teachers Service Commission. (2020). Circular No. 5/2020 on TPAD implementation guidelines.

Teachers Service Commission. (2021). Circular 11/2021: Teacher welfare and psychosocial support services. TSC.

Teachers Service Commission. (2022). Annual report 2021/2022. TSC.

Transparency International Kenya. (2022). Corruption risk mapping in the education sector in Kenya. Retrieved from https://tikenya.org

Transparency International Kenya. (2022). Integrity in education sector: A situational analysis of teacher management. TI-Kenya.

UNESCO. (2020). Global education monitoring report: Inclusion and education—All means all. UNESCO.

UNESCO. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org

World Bank. (2021). Kenya education sector public expenditure review. World Bank Group. Retrieved from https://documents.worldbank.org




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v12i11.6401

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Dorothy Owuor Jonyo, Bonn Jonyo

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015-2026. European Journal of Education Studies (ISSN 2501 - 1111) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).