The number of PhD and Master’s holders who are working in public primary schools increased sharply in the year ended December 2023.

According to the latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), as at December 2023, 2,060 PhD and Master’s holders were working as public primary schools teachers.

Out of these, 889 were men while 1,171 were women. In 2022, this number stood at 2047 while in 2021, the number of Master’s and Doctorate degrees who were teaching in public primary schools was 1,987.

“There was a 0.8 per cent decrease in the total number of public primary teachers from 221,510 in 2022 to 219,727 in 2023. This decline is partly attributed to factors such as retirement, disciplinary action, study leave and natural attrition,” the Economic Survey 2024 report by KNBS stated.

Among these teachers, those holding certificates reduced by 2.8 per cent to 148,525 and accounted for the highest number of primary school teachers at 67.6 per cent in 2023. The number of female teachers decreased slightly by 0.3 per cent to 118,780, while male teachers decreased by 1.3 per cent to 100,947 in 2023.

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During the review period, the number of teachers with masters and doctorate degrees, bachelor’s degrees and diploma increased by 0.6, 3.3 and 4.1 per cent to 2,060, 28,226 and 40,916, respectively.

The data that is contained in the Economic Survey 2024 report further showed that a total of 6,224 PhD and Master’s holders are currently teaching public secondary schools. Out of these, 3,343 are men and 2,881 are women.

In 2022, the number of Master’s and Doctorate degrees holder teaching at the secondary level stood at 5,822.