The government will employ an additional 20,000 teachers next January in an effort to bridge the teacher:learner ratio gap, President William Ruto has announced.

The President said the recruitment would ensure that all Kenyans, especially those from rural areas and informal urban settlements, acess quality education.

“Many schools across Kenya continue to have gaps in education. This denies many children the opportunities to become their best,” he said.

In addition to the 20,000 teachers to be recruited, 46,000 intern teachers, who have served for two years, will be hired under permanent and pensionable terms.

Speaking during the Gold Award presentation of the President Award Kenya at State House Nairobi on Thursday, the President noted that Kenya’s greatest asset is its human capital, the President said there is need to continuously sharpen it through education, training, knowledge acquisition and skills development.

“Having been a Cabinet Minister for Higher Education before, I know the value of education and the importance of making sure that we have deployed every resource available to make sure we get our education right,” he said.

President Ruto pointed out that the education budget has increased by KSh127 billion in the two years he took office, and that the government is providing more resources for university and technical education through the new student-centred funding model.

During the ceremony, 1,517 Gold awardees, who have excelled in different fields, received their certificates of commendation from the President.

More than 138,000 young Kenyans are currently in the award scheme, with the programme targeting a million youth in the next five years.

“I want to commit here that we will do everything to make sure that we give more opportunities to our children between the ages of 14 and 24 to be part of this scheme,” said President Ruto.

He encouraged parents to take a keen interest in the development of their children so as to shape their character and integrity instead of “simply dumping them in school”.

At the same time, he reiterated his commitment to ridding Kenya of slums through the Affordable Housing Programme.

“In the next 15 years, we will have gotten rid of slums in Kenya. By God’s grace, we will make sure that citizens have decent dwelling,” he said.

Under the programme, the government is building 15,000 units in Mukuru kwa Njenga and another 4,000 in the Kibra slums in Nairobi.

Overall, the government is building 120,000 units across the country under the affordable housing programme and has created 160,000 jobs opportunities for millions of Kenyans.

At the function were Cabinet Secretaries Kipchumba Murkomen (Sports and Youth Affairs) and Julius Ogamba (Education), Principal Secretaries Ishmael Madey (Youth Affairs) and Belio Kipsang (Basic Education).

Also present was Dr Dominic Wamugunda, the chairperson of the board of President’s Award Kenya.