The Ministry of Education requires Sh12.8 billion to recruit primary, secondary and Early Childhood Development teachers in the next financial year.

The ministry needs Sh4 billion to recruit 10,000 teachers to ease the shortfall of teachers which stands at more than 70,000, Education PS George Godia said.

"The Ministry requires a further Sh4.8 billion to recruit 24,000 ECD teachers to manage the nursery classes in 24,000 public primary schools," Godia said during the Medium Term Expenditure Framework budget education stakeholders public hearing at KICC on Tuesday.

He added that the ministry needs an additional Sh4 billion to meet the promotion of teachers in various cadres. "To implement article 53 of the Constitution the Ministry of Education will require Sh991 million for Free Primary Education and Sh7.43 billion for the Free Day Secondary Education," Godia said.

"All these challenges if not addressed will adversely affect access, relevance and quality of our education (human capital) at all levels and further compromise the capacity to integrate science, technology and innovation in all our economic and social processes," he said.