A recent report by the Commission for University Education (CUE) reveals that lecturers in Kenya’s public universities are facing heavier workloads as student enrolment continues to surge faster than faculty recruitment.
The 2024/2025 University Statistics report shows that the student-teacher ratio in public universities worsened, rising from 40.77 in 2023 to 44.36 in 2024, as enrolment climbed from 411,349 to 469,688 students.
This means a single lecturer now manages roughly 44 students, compared to about 41 the previous year.
While there is no global standard for faculty-student ratios, CUE requires each university to establish its own benchmarks based on available resources. The commission, however, sets maximum limits at 1:50 for theory-based courses and 1:20 for practical-based courses to maintain education quality.
Despite ongoing efforts to hire and retain qualified staff, public universities still struggle with a shortage of PhD holders, an ageing professoriate, and heavy reliance on part-time or adjunct lecturers.
Private universities, by contrast, reported improved ratios, falling from 42.83 to 33.96 even as enrolment rose to 144,007 students. This indicates that private institutions are investing more in teaching staff, resulting in a more supportive learning environment.
The report notes, “Universities in 2024 had an average teacher–student ratio of 1:39, meaning one Kenyan university staff member served thirty-nine students.” Overall, teaching staff grew by 7.2 per cent, from 14,349 to 15,383, with public universities accounting for 69 per cent of the total.
Lecturers remain the backbone of teaching staff, rising from 6,052 (41.9 per cent) in 2023 to 6,627 (43.08 per cent) in 2024. Senior Lecturers also increased slightly, from 1,987 (13.76 per cent) to 2,144 (13.94 per cent), while Professors rose from 475 (3.29 per cent) to 551 (3.58 per cent), reflecting gradual upward mobility within academic ranks.
Entry-level positions, however, recorded declines. Tutorial Fellows fell from 3,498 (24.22 per cent) to 3,119 (20.28 per cent), and Graduate Assistants dropped from 815 (5.64 per cent) to 604 (3.93 per cent).
CUE warns that this decline could threaten the sustainability of the academic talent pipeline and succession planning. Meanwhile, reliance on external staff continues to grow, with Adjunct Academic Staff more than doubling from 379 (2.62 per cent) to 758 (4.93 per cent).
