The pronouncements by some leaders that teachers’ salaries should be pegged to their learners’ performance are not only horrendous but also absurd. These remarks came just days after the release of the 2025 KCSE results, where a significant number of candidates performed dismally. This development now begs the question: should teachers’ salaries in this country be entirely dependent on how their students perform in standardised examinations?
Teachers, like other professionals, are expected to deliver in line with their employer’s expectations. However, the job description of a teacher in Kenya is not purely academic. Examinations and academic performance metrics do not comprehensively capture a teacher’s effectiveness. In fact, academic results are not a comprehensive measure of what students learn in the classroom. A substantial portion of academic performance rests on the learner.
Judging teachers solely by learners’ examination outcomes disregards the complex nature of education and overlooks students’ diverse skills and abilities. Standardised tests assess certain types of knowledge and cognitive abilities, often neglecting emotional intelligence, creativity, physical talents, leadership skills, and critical thinking. These attributes are equally important but difficult to measure through written examinations.
The Kenyan educator is often a parent away from home. Many learners report to school burdened with unresolved family challenges that, if left unattended, negatively affect their emotional and mental well-being. Teachers are therefore compelled to assume parental roles, offering guidance and counseling—services that are not examinable. A teacher who focuses on nurturing problem-solving skills and social-emotional growth may temporarily see lower examination scores, even as learners acquire critical life skills. In such a case, the teacher may have strengthened the learner emotionally while appearing to fall short academically.
There are schools in Kenya where students excel in co-curricular activities but do not necessarily post outstanding national examination results. For instance, Kwanthanze Secondary School is widely celebrated for its dominance in volleyball, yet it rarely features among the top national academic performers. Similarly, some institutions shine in music, drama or the arts but struggle in standardised academic tests. Interestingly, the same teachers handling these physical and creative domains also teach examinable subjects. It would therefore be uncouth to tie their incentives solely to academic outcomes.
While no employer tolerates mediocrity, the question remains: does students’ academic performance lie entirely at the teacher’s doorstep? Although teachers play a significant role in preparing learners for examinations, holding them solely accountable ignores numerous external factors beyond their control. Incentivising teachers solely on examination outcomes might appear to promote accountability, but it unfairly oversimplifies a complex system.
Learners in Kenya come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Some hail from affluent families with access to books, private tuition, electricity, internet connectivity, and conducive study environments. Others come from underprivileged homes where even basic necessities are scarce. A learner from a home without electricity may struggle to study at night. Limited internet access further limits access to essential digital learning resources in the 21st century.
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In informal settlements and marginalised rural areas, overcrowding and noise pollution make studying a nightmare. Shockingly, some female learners still miss school due to a lack of sanitary products. Many families can barely afford adequate meals, let alone academic materials. In such circumstances, expecting teachers to produce stellar academic results without addressing these systemic inequalities is unrealistic and unjust.
Public secondary schools in Kenya range from well-equipped national schools to under-resourced sub-county schools. Teachers in national and extra-county schools often enjoy relatively better facilities, while their counterparts in county and sub-county institutions grapple with severe shortages. Chronic underfunding has left many day schools without adequate laboratories, libraries, or teaching materials. Classrooms are overcrowded and sometimes in deplorable condition. Teachers in such environments are few and overworked.
Overloading teachers is a sure recipe for poor learner performance. Introducing performance-based pay tied strictly to examination scores may yield short-term gains, but it risks long-term harm. Teachers might resort to “teaching to the test,” narrowing the curriculum and sidelining holistic educational approaches. The richness of learning would be sacrificed for grades.
Moreover, excessive performance pressure could encourage unethical practices such as exam cheating or grade inflation. Education’s primary goal should be equipping learners with the knowledge, values and competencies necessary for life beyond school. Reducing this mission to mere examination results undermines the broader purpose of education. It could also breed unhealthy competition among teachers, weakening collaboration and professional unity – key ingredients in holistic learner development.
In today’s dynamic world, financial success and personal fulfilment are not determined solely by academic grades. Society increasingly values innovation, adaptability, emotional intelligence and practical skills. This calls for greater emphasis on project-based and experiential learning, where learners actively engage, learn from failure, and navigate uncertainty. In such a framework, the teacher’s role shifts from being a mere transmitter of knowledge to a facilitator of meaningful learning experiences.
Families and communities also have a responsibility in supporting learners. Education is a shared enterprise involving teachers, parents, policymakers, and society at large. Blaming teachers exclusively for poor examination outcomes oversimplifies systemic challenges that require collective solutions.
A more balanced and holistic approach to evaluating teacher performance is therefore prudent. Appraisal systems should consider multiple dimensions: classroom practice, learner engagement, professional development, mentorship roles, co-curricular involvement, and contribution to school culture. Such an approach would promote well-rounded education and recognise the multifaceted responsibilities teachers shoulder daily.
Pegging teachers’ salaries solely to their learners’ academic performance is neither fair nor effective. It ignores social realities, undermines holistic education, and places disproportionate responsibility on educators for factors beyond their control. If genuine improvement in learning outcomes is desired, stakeholders must address structural inequalities and support teachers comprehensively rather than reducing their worth to examination scores.
By Fred Wane Mwaniki
Fred is a passionate educator and an enthusiastic defender of teachers’ rights.
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