CS John Mbadi pledges permanent placement for 20,000 intern teachers from January 2026

The government will convert 20,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms starting January next year, even though there is no money allocated for it in the current budget, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has told Parliament.

Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee on Thursday, Mbadi said it was now his responsibility to ensure the recruitment goes ahead as directed by the president.

“This is something that the president has pronounced himself on, and it is now my responsibility to ensure it is done next year,” he told the committee while responding to a question by Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo.

The MP had raised concerns about the fate of the intern teachers, saying their contracts are ending in December and no funds were set aside to renew or convert their terms.

Mbadi said the government will still go ahead with the exercise despite the financial limitations.

“There was no allocation for this, but I now must look for money and employ these teachers on a permanent basis in January next year. We will ensure it is done,” he said.

The CS, who was accompanied by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, revealed that the conversion will cost the government Sh5.4 billion.

He added that in the current financial year, Sh2.34 billion has been allocated to support the recruitment of additional intern teachers starting January 2026.

Mbadi told the committee that the Treasury is operating under a difficult fiscal environment, worsened by unavoidable expenditure on national security and emergencies. Even so, he said the government has continued to prioritise the education sector.

“Despite these, the government has prioritised allocations to the education sector. For instance, in the 2025/2026 budget, the education sector has been allocated Sh702.7 billion, making it the highest recipient of the funds,” he said.

He noted that the money will support all levels of learning, including primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, TVET and universities. The funds will also cater for salaries, infrastructure, and support for the Competency-Based Curriculum.

“Despite this, we recognise underfunding in some of the programmes under the education sector, which will be addressed should our revenue performance improve,” Mbadi said.

The CS added that the government will continue funding teacher recruitment and training, and is also looking into ways to improve school infrastructure to ease the implementation of CBC.

Mbadi said that Sh7.68 billion and Sh1.27 billion have already been allocated in this financial year for the hiring of teachers and TVET instructors to reduce the shortage.

He pushed back against those criticising the government’s high spending on security, arguing that it plays a vital role in ensuring stability in schools.

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“I hear people asking why we should continue spending on security as if we are at war. I want to tell them that without security, we cannot even do exams. Security plays an important role,” Mbadi said.

“If you ask me if we are at war, I will tell you yes, we must keep Al-shabaab off our country. The neighbouring countries are also not safe, except Tanzania,” he added.

The issue of intern teachers has been a concern in Parliament since May, when the Teachers Service Commission appeared before the same committee and said it would not be able to hire the teachers on permanent terms due to a lack of funds.

The commission’s finance director, Cheptumo Ayabei, and legal director, Cavin Anyuor, told MPs that while they had engaged the Treasury in the budgeting process, no money was provided in the final budget.