Universities Academic Staff Union Secretary General Constantine Wesonga (center) with lecturers of Technical University of Kenya on September 18, 2024 during the first day of the university lecturer’s nationwide strike.
A new report by the Commission for University Education (CUE) shows that lecturers in public universities are being pushed to handle heavier workloads as student enrolment continues to outpace growth in faculty numbers.
According to the University Statistics 2024/2025 report, the teacher-student ratio in public universities worsened from 40.77 in 2023 to 44.36 in 2024, as enrolment rose from 411,349 to 469,688 students during the review period.
Put simply, while a lecturer was responsible for about 41 students in 2023, that number grew to 44 in 2024.
Whereas there is no globally fixed standard for faculty-student ratios, CUE guidelines require each institution to set its own ratios based on available resources.
Even so, the commission caps ratios at 1:50 for theoretical-based courses and 1:20 for practical-based courses to safeguard the quality of education.
PHD holders
Despite some progress in hiring and retaining qualified staff, public universities continue to grapple with shortages of PhD holders, an aging professoriate, and heavy reliance on part-time or adjunct lecturers.
Private universities, however, posted a contrasting trend with their teacher-student ratio improving significantly, dropping from 42.83 to 33.96, even as enrolment increased by 8,298 to reach 144,007 students.
This suggests that private institutions invested more in staffing, creating a more favourable learning environment.
“Universities in 2024 had an average 1:39 teacher-student ratio, meaning one Kenyan university staff member served thirty-nine students,” the report notes.
Overall, universities recorded a modest 7.2 percent growth in teaching staff, rising from 14,349 to 15,383, with public universities accounting for 69 percent of the total.
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The data shows that the Lecturer rank remains the backbone of teaching staff, rising from 6,052 (41.9 percent) in 2023 to 6,627 (43.08 percent) in 2024, underscoring the continued dependence on mid-level academics.
The number of Senior Lecturers also increased slightly from 1,987 (13.76 percent) to 2,144 (13.94 percent), while Professors grew from 475 (3.29 percent) to 551 (3.58 percent), indicating gradual upward mobility within academic ranks.
Entry - level posts
In contrast, entry-level positions recorded declines. Tutorial Fellows dropped from 3,498 (24.22 percent) to 3,119 (20.28 percent), while Graduate Assistants fell from 815 (5.64 percent) to 604 (3.93 percent).
The Commission notes this decline raises concerns about the sustainability of the academic talent pipeline and succession planning.
At the same time, reliance on external staff is increasing. The number of Adjunct Academic Staff more than doubled from 379 (2.62 percent) to 758 (4.93 percent), while Skilled Workers grew from 64 (0.44 percent) to 254 (1.65 percent), reflecting greater investment in technical and laboratory support roles.
“Professors and Associate Professors together account for only about 9.5 percent of teaching staff, reflecting the traditional academic pyramid where senior academic positions are fewer compared to junior teaching ranks,” the Commission observes.
Male teaching staff form the majority at 9,910, representing 64.42 percent of the workforce, while female staff number 5,469, making up 35.55 percent of the academic fraternity.
Of the 15,383 teaching staff employed in Kenyan universities, those in Business studies top the list with 1,698 staff (11.04 percent), followed by the Social Sciences at 1,053 staff (6.85 percent) and Humanities with 931 staff (6.05 percent).
Professional and science-based disciplines also have strong representation, with Engineering hosting 843 staff (5.48 percent) and Education (Arts) close behind at 841 staff (5.47 percent).
Medical and health-related programmes—covering areas such as Medicine (4.89%), Nursing (2.11 percent), and Public Health (1.35 percent)—account for a moderate share of faculty.
STEM fields remain present but relatively less staffed compared to the humanities and business. These include Mathematics and Statistics (3.61 percent), Physical Sciences (3.32 percent), and Computer Science (2.25 percent).
Specialised disciplines continue to register low staffing numbers. Veterinary Medicine (0.90 percent), Pharmacy (0.79 percent), and Manufacturing and Production (0.60 percent) each account for less than 1 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, niche and emerging fields such as Security Services, Transport, and Formal Law remain marginal, with each constituting less than 0.02 percent of teaching staff.
