Nairobi, April 14 -- The government has announced plans to hire an additional 20,000 teachers in the next financial year at a cost of Sh4 billion in a bid to address the current shortage mainly in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

The development follows last week's agreement between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

This as the teachers' employer has also agreed to convert all the 26,000 intern teachers recruited in 2023 to permanent and pensionable terms in January 2025.

Out of the 20,000 teachers set to be absorbed in the JSS, 2,000 would be posted to arid and semi-arid regions.

Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori said TSC has agreed to their demand to review the...