Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba has defended the Ministry of Education’s recruitment practices in public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, assuring the Senate that the sector fully complies with constitutional mandates on regional diversity, gender balance, and equal opportunity.
Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration, CS Ogamba disclosed that all 47 counties are represented among the 23,388 employees currently working across Kenya’s 246 public TVET institutions. The committee convened to address inquiries raised by Committee Chair Senator Mohammed Chute and Nominated Senator Beth Syengo regarding staff distribution, recruitment fairness, and regional inclusivity.
The Ministry presented detailed demographic figures showing that men account for 56.8 per cent of the workforce while women represent 43.2 per cent, successfully adhering to the constitutional two-thirds gender rule. Ogamba noted that trainers constitute the largest employee category within TVETs, followed by technical specialists, administrative personnel, and support staff. To bridge existing staffing gaps, the government has recruited 3,300 Public Service Commission trainers since 2022.
Ogamba explained that TVET recruitments follow a transparent, competitive framework jointly managed by institutional councils and boards, the State Department for TVET, and the Public Service Commission. Job advertisements actively encourage applications from women, persons with disabilities, and historically marginalized communities. To ensure fairness, the Ministry routinely audits TVET institutions for compliance with the National Cohesion and Integration Act, which strictly prohibits any single ethnic group from occupying more than one-third of jobs in a public entity.
Looking ahead, the Cabinet Secretary announced that new human resource instruments scheduled for rollout in October 2026 will further standardize hiring, governance, and promotion frameworks across all institutions. Addressing specific concerns regarding marginalized areas particularly educational access for the Daasanach community in Marsabit County Ogamba highlighted ongoing government interventions, including the establishment of Illeret Sub-County, expanded school infrastructure, targeted teacher deployments, and the continued delivery of capitation and school feeding programs.
