The “Tech-Teacher” Trap and the Hardware Vacuum

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is currently on an aggressive recruitment drive, prioritising a new breed of educator: the Bachelor of Education (Technology) graduate. This degree is being marketed as the golden ticket for the Competency-Based Curriculum’s STEM pathway. However, this recruitment drive masks a ridiculous operational reality. We are hiring highly specialized teachers to deploy them into “C4” schools that are technological deserts. Recent studies in counties like Homa Bay reveal that some public primary schools are operating with as few as 27 tablets for an entire school population, with zero interactive whiteboards or functional computer labs.

We are effectively creating a “Tech-Teacher Trap.” These fresh graduates, armed with skills in electrical engineering and digital media, are being hired as interns—paid a fraction of a permanent salary—and placed in classrooms where “Computer Science” is taught theoretically because there is no hardware. The government’s ban on parents buying digital devices creates a stalemate: schools can’t afford them, the government hasn’t supplied enough of them, and parents aren’t allowed to buy them. The result? A generation of Grade 10 students who can define a microprocessor on paper but have never held one.

The numbers don’t lie. The sector is facing a shortage of 58,590 teachers for the 2026 transition, with the STEM pathway hitting the hardest deficit in areas like aviation and computer studies. By plugging these gaps with underpaid interns and failing to provide the “Digital Literacy” hardware promised a decade ago, the Ministry is setting up the pioneer Senior School class for failure. We are simulating a modern education system rather than building one, widening the gap between the “digital haves” in elite private schools and the “analogue have-nots” in the public system.

References:

ResearchGate Development of Digital Literacy Skills among Learners in Public Primary Schools in Homabay County, Kenya

Capital News Govt publishes boarding fee caps, day school remains fully funded

The Eastleigh Voice Kenya needs 58,590 more teachers for 2026 senior school transition – TSC

Scribd Guidelines for recruitment of Teacher Interns, Junior Schools-2025/2026 Financial Year