Over 23,000 educators, whose promotions have been on hold due to parliamentary inquiries, are now poised to ascend to higher job grades and enjoy increased salaries. The National Assembly’s Education Committee has granted the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) the go-ahead to move forward with their promotions.
For nearly two months, 23,388 teachers have been in limbo since their employer revealed their new statuses on April 2, 2025. The Education Committee had initially put the brakes on these promotions amid allegations of misconduct and launched an investigation into the situation.
Following the inquiry, the MPs have instructed that 1,864 teachers be removed from the promotions list after it was discovered they had not completed the required three years in their current positions, as stipulated by TSC regulations.
This decision was reached during a private meeting between the MPs and TSC commissioners, as confirmed by the committee chairman, Mr. Julius Melly, who announced that the promotions would take effect immediately.
Additionally, the committee recommended that qualified teachers from densely populated counties be prioritized for further promotions on a pro-rata basis to ensure fairness, particularly favoring those who have served for seven years in one grade and are within three years of retirement.
During the investigation, the TSC revealed that 5,291 teachers had been promoted without fulfilling the three-year service requirement in their current grades. The commission urged the MPs to retain 3,427 teachers in grades D3 (principals) and C4 (deputy principals), citing a lack of qualified applicants for these critical administrative roles.
The TSC explained that these two grades had not attracted enough qualified candidates nationwide. Consequently, they opted to waive the three-year service requirement and replace it with a six-month service stipulation. The committee had requested evidence of a teacher shortage to justify this decision, and the TSC provided data indicating a significant gap in eligible applicants.
Before advertising the positions in November, the TSC analyzed its database and found 1,410 vacancies in Grade D3, with only 598 teachers meeting the three-year requirement. For Grade C3, 7,460 teachers were eligible for promotion against 3,386 vacancies for deputy headteachers in Grade C4.
The commission’s policy decision to temporarily relax the three-year requirement resulted in a surge of applicants: 1,694 for Grade D3 and 4,521 for Grade C4, surpassing the available vacancies.
In 18 counties, including Migori, Busia, and Mandera, the TSC waived the three-year rule for the deputy principal III (Grade D1) position. The TSC typically shortlists at least three candidates for each vacancy to maintain competitiveness and ensure the best candidates are chosen.
As a result of the November 2024 advertisement, 1,410 teachers were promoted to Grade D3 and 3,686 to Grade C4 across the nation. This waiver also aimed to tackle the ongoing issue of teachers acting in administrative roles and address applicant shortages in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) and other challenging areas.
The TSC’s analysis revealed that many administrators were serving in lower grades than their responsibilities warranted, without receiving acting or special duty allowances. The National Assembly allocated Sh1 billion for teacher promotions, which the TSC indicated could only accommodate 5,690 teachers, leaving 19,598 vacancies due to departures in the current financial year.
In a previous meeting, committee members criticized the TSC for its lack of transparency and failure to uphold equity principles. Data presented showed that four ethnic groups—Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Kamba, and Luo—secured over two-thirds of the promoted positions, raising concerns about ethnic balance in the appointments.
These findings echo similar issues raised by the Senate Committee on National Cohesion regarding skewed ethnic representation in the hiring of Junior School teachers, with the TSC defending its decisions based on the availability of qualified applicants by region and subject area. Recent figures indicate that 65 percent of the 25,252 teachers promoted came from just five communities, with the Kikuyu leading at 18.3 percent, despite representing only 17.1 percent of Kenya’s population. The Kalenjin followed at 15.8 percent, the Luhya at 12.4 percent, the Luo at 9.4 percent, and the Kamba at 9 percent.
STATUS REPORT ON THE RESOLUTION OF THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION REGARDING TEACHERS PROMOTION
Attached, hereto find the response with respect to the above report for further action.
BACKGROUND
The Teachers Service Commission is established under Article 237 (1) of the Constitution with the overall mandate of teacher management and regulation of the teaching service as provided under Article 237(2) and (3) of the Constitution.
As a public organ, the Commission is bound by the National Values and Principles of Governance set out under Article 10 of the Constitution as well as the Values and Principles of Public Service set out under Article 232 of the Constitution.
To implement the mandate of the Commission, the Parliament enacted the Teachers Service Commission Act and the Code of Regulations for Teachers (CORT).
The two legislations provide for powers and procedures within the functions of the Commission. Notably, section 11 of the Act requires the Commission to among others, formulate policies to achieve its mandate.
STATUS REPORT OF THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
Resolution Numbers 1,2, 3 & 5
As earlier presented before this Committee, prior to the publication of the advert in November 2024, the Commission analyzed its database to establish whether there were requisite numbers to fill the promotional vacancies totaling 25,252.
As you may recall, the national assembly appropriated Kshs1 billion for promotion of teachers.
This budgetary allocation could only promote 5,690 teachers. The balance of 19,598 vacancies arose out of exits from 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025.
The analysis yielded 2 exceptional grades that warranted special treatment. The two grades are: Grades C4 (Deputy Head Teachers) and Grade D3 (Principals).
In the Commission’s database, only 598 teachers had served for three years and above in grade D2 as at the date of the advert and therefore, were eligible for promotion to Grade D3 as per the Policy, yet there were 1,410 vacancies in Grade D3.
Similarly, only 7,460 teachers had served for three years in grade C3 as at the date of the advert and therefore were eligible for promotion to Grade C4 as per the Policy, yet there were 3,686 declared vacancies for Deputy Headteacher in Grade C4.
It is important to note that the Commission’s standard practice is to shortlist at least three candidates for every advertised vacancy. This is intended to uphold competitiveness and ensure that the best-suited candidates are selected. In the case of the just-concluded promotion exercise, the number of teachers who had met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades fell significantly short of the number of vacancies available for both principals and deputy headteachers positions.
As such, to facilitate a competitive promotion process and ensure that the vacancies were filled-particularly to address the persistent issue of teachers serving in acting capacities, the Commission made a policy decision to temporarily waive the three-year requisite service in one grade and instead allow teachers with a minimum of six months’ service to apply in the two grades.
In a nutshell, the two Grades which are administrative positions (Principals and Deputies headteachers) did not have sufficient qualified teachers nationally. As a result, the Commission waived the three years’ requisite service in one grade before promotion and substituted it with 6 months service.
The objective of this waiver was twofold: to attract sufficient applicants for these key positions and to address the perennial problem of teachers acting in administrative positions and shortage of applicants, especially in ASAL and Hard to staff areas.
As a result of the waiver, Grade D3 attracted 1,694 applicants against 1,410 available vacancies while Grade C4 attracted 4,521 applicants against 3,686 available vacancies.
In the Commission’s database, only 598 teachers had served for three years and above in grade D2 as at the date of the advert and therefore, were eligible for promotion to Grade D3 as per the Policy, yet there were 1,410 vacancies in Grade D3.
Similarly, only 7,460 teachers had served for three years in grade C3 as at the date of the advert and therefore were eligible for promotion to Grade C4 as per the Policy, yet there were 3,686 declared vacancies forbDeputy Headteacher in Grade C4.
It is important to note that the Commission’s standard practice is to shortlist at least three candidates for every advertised vacancy. This is intended to uphold competitiveness and ensure that the best-suited candidates are selected. In the case of the just-concluded promotion exercise, the number of teachers who had met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades fell significantly short of the number of vacancies available for both principals and deputy headteachers positions.
As such, to facilitate a competitive promotion process and ensure that the vacancies were filled particularly to address the persistent issue of teachers serving in acting capacities, the Commission made a policy decision to temporarily waive the three-year requisite service in one grade and instead allow teachers with a minimum of six months’ service to apply in the two grades.
Honorable members, you may note that while the Commission had over 10,000 potential applicants for grade C4 (Deputy Headteachers) only 4,521 applied.
Subsequently a total of 1,410 were promoted in grade D3 (Principals) and 3,686 promoted in grade C4 (Deputy headteacher) positions across the country.
As earlier presented before this committee, out of the 25,252 teachers promoted a total of 5,291 teachers were promoted without the requisite three years in service in one grade.
Out of 5,291 teachers promoted without the requisite three years, 3,427 are in grades D3 and C4 described.
The Commission requests that these teachers be retained since the two grades did not attract the requisite numbers nationally as described above.
However, in compliance with the Committee’s recommendations, the balance of 1,864 teachers who were promoted but have not met the requisite three-year requirement has been removed from the Promotion list.
In compliance with the Committee’s resolutions, the vacancies created from the above have been redistributed proportionately across the country based on the number of interviewed applicants. Priority has been given to teachers who have served for seven years in one grade and have three years to retire from service.
See Appendix 1 is a table showing redistribution of teachers promoted per County; below.
Resolutions 4&6
Development of Promotion
Guidelines:
In compliance with the Committee’s resolution Number 4, the Commission has resolved that going forward, it will develop, publicize and disseminate Promotion Guidelines clearly setting out standardized promotion criteria and procedures for promotion to ensure the process is fair, transparent and accountable.
In developing the Guidelines, the Commission will undertake public participation as required under Article 10 of the Constitution. To this end, the Commission will consult with key stakeholders including teacher unions, Associations and teachers in general before the same is adopted.
Regarding Resolution Number 6, the Commission will ensure total compliance with the Constitutional principles of equity, inclusiveness and non-discrimination. The Commission will apply the principle of Affirmative Action in its promotion processes while adhering to the provisions of its policies regarding eligibility for promotion.
CONCLUSION.
The Commission appreciates the support from the Departmental Committee on Education. This support has been instrumental in addressing staffing gaps, teacher motivation and retention across the country.
The Commission remains committed to working closely with the committee and all the stakeholders to ensure efficient and effective implementation of its mandate.
