- TSC has rolled out a more automated Teacher Transfer and Swap Module and has continued digitalising services under Mitei’s leadership.
- The Commission has proposed a revised career-progression framework offering teachers an alternative professional pathway, alongside a five-year renewable teaching licence still awaiting full implementation.
- TSC has strengthened field engagement, mentorship programmes and staff terms for its Secretariat employees, while continuing to manage payroll and salary administration inherited from earlier systems.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is undergoing a significant period of administrative and professional change under Acting Commission Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Eveleen Mitei, with reforms touching almost every stage of a teacher’s career, from registration and recruitment to deployment, transfers, promotion, professional development and retirement.
The changes have, however, occurred against an important background. Mitei did not inherit an institution without systems. TSC already had established mechanisms for teacher recruitment, registration, transfers, promotions, appraisal, payroll, professional development and deployment. Some of the changes now associated with her tenure are therefore new reforms, while others are existing programmes that her administration is implementing, expanding or restructuring. There are also reforms that Mitei has announced or championed but which remain proposals awaiting the necessary regulatory, financial or operational approvals. Separating these categories is essential when assessing what has actually changed at TSC.
From traditional transfers to a more automated digital system
The clearest transformation already visible to teachers is the movement towards a more digital administration. Teacher transfers existed before Mitei, and TSC had already introduced online applications. The significant development under her leadership has been the rollout of a more sophisticated Teacher Transfer and Swap Module, which provides for online applications, automated matching, mutual swaps, notifications and more structured consideration of subjects, school categories and staffing requirements.
This means the change should not be described as Mitei introducing online transfers from nothing. Rather, she has overseen the expansion of an existing digital direction into a more automated and structured transfer system. For teachers, the intended difference is practical: less dependence on paperwork and physical follow-up, and greater ability to submit and monitor transfer requests electronically.
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Career progression is being reconsidered
Another major area of change is the structure of teacher career progression. Under the earlier career framework, progression to higher grades was strongly associated with the availability of administrative positions, meaning teachers seeking advancement could eventually have to move towards senior administrative responsibilities.
Under the revised Career Progression Guidelines advanced during Mitei’s tenure, TSC and teachers’ unions have proposed a different model involving administrative and professional pathways. The professional pathway is intended to create room for teachers to progress while remaining primarily engaged in classroom practice, rather than making administration the only route to higher grades. This is potentially one of the most important changes in the philosophy of teacher progression.
But it is important to distinguish the proposal from implementation. The revised framework has gone through consultation and signing processes, but aspects of its implementation require the relevant approvals. It should therefore not yet be presented as though every teacher has already been placed under the new two-track system.
While the new career structure remains subject to implementation arrangements, teacher promotions themselves are not merely a proposal. TSC has continued to conduct promotion exercises, including a large-scale process covering tens of thousands of positions. This distinction matters because it prevents the current promotion exercise from being confused with the proposed professional career pathway.
Professional development, mentorship and registration under review
Teacher Professional Development (TPD) also predates Mitei. What has changed under her leadership is the proposed strengthening of the relationship between professional development and the right to continue practising as a teacher. Mitei has announced a proposed system under which teachers would complete professional-development requirements over a five-year cycle and use that process as part of renewal of their teaching licence. However, this five-year renewable licence should currently be described as a proposed reform, not an already operational requirement, as the programme was still being refined before formal implementation.
Teacher Induction, Mentorship and Coaching, commonly known as TIMEC, is one area already being advanced. The programme provides structured support to teachers, particularly those entering the profession, while strengthening mentorship and professional guidance. Unlike the proposed five-year licensing system, mentorship and induction are already part of TSC’s professional-support activities, although their implementation and strengthening have continued under the current administration.
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Teacher registration is another area under review. The traditional system has generally been built around established qualifications and subject combinations. Under Mitei, TSC has announced plans to revise the registration framework to accommodate appropriately qualified teachers with single-subject specialisation, particularly where specialised staffing needs exist under the Competency-Based Education system. The safest description, however, is that TSC has announced and is reviewing the framework, rather than claiming that every element of the new registration regime is already fully operational.
Deployment, field engagement and payroll
Deployment to Junior Secondary School is another area where the old system has been adjusted. TSC had already begun deploying eligible primary teachers to JSS before Mitei’s tenure, and her administration has continued the process through online applications and structured consideration of teacher qualifications and staffing requirements. The important change is therefore not that Mitei invented JSS deployment, but that teacher deployment is increasingly being managed as part of the wider restructuring of basic education, as Kenya moves from the old primary-secondary divide towards a system organised around pre-primary, primary, JSS and senior school.
Another feature receiving greater visibility under Mitei is direct field engagement with teachers, schools and county education structures. Rather than relying exclusively on correspondence and headquarters-based decision-making, TSC officials have increasingly undertaken visits to counties and schools to assess staffing situations, verify teacher-management processes, engage education officers and receive concerns from teachers and school administrators. This should not be presented as though county advisory services were created by Mitei, since TSC has always maintained a field structure; the more defensible description is that field visitation and advisory engagement have been strengthened and given greater operational visibility under the current administration.
Salary administration is another area where the distinction between a new reform and an existing institutional function is important. TSC already operated a national teacher payroll before Mitei became Acting CEO, and salary negotiations, collective bargaining agreements and remuneration decisions also involve institutions beyond the TSC Secretariat, including the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. Mitei’s administration has nevertheless overseen the implementation of salary adjustments and payroll-related decisions during her tenure, with greater attention to timely processing of salary and payroll cases, particularly for newly recruited teachers. It would, however, be inaccurate to say that Mitei personally created the teachers’ salary structure or salary increments.
One of the more clearly identifiable internal reforms under Mitei concerns the Commission’s own employees. TSC announced the movement of specified Secretariat staff in Grades 3 to 6 from fixed-term contracts to permanent and pensionable terms. This reform does not directly change the terms of service of classroom teachers, but its significance lies in employment security, staff retention and institutional continuity within the Commission, making it one of the reforms that can be more directly associated with decisions taken during Mitei’s leadership.
What is confirmed and what is still proposed?
Across all these areas, two features have emerged strongly during the current period: digital administration and direct field engagement. Online systems are increasingly being used for transfers, recruitment, promotion applications, deployment and other teacher-management services, while county and field officers remain important because not every teacher-management problem can be solved through a portal. A teacher can initiate a transaction online but may still need professional guidance, verification or clarification from a county or field officer, a combination that is particularly important in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
The reforms can therefore be divided into three broad categories. The confirmed or already operational developments include the continued digitalisation of teacher services, the Teacher Transfer and Swap Module, ongoing teacher promotions, teacher deployment processes, professional induction and mentorship programmes, field visits and county-level advisory services, and the continued administration of salaries and other employment services. The reforms under active development or implementation include the revised career-progression framework, registration changes and the strengthening of professional-development structures. The more clearly proposed reforms include the five-year renewable teaching licence and some elements of the new professional career pathway and revised teacher-registration arrangements, which require the necessary approvals and implementation procedures before they can be treated as fully operational. This distinction is important because a policy announcement is not the same thing as a policy that has already changed the working conditions of teachers.
What is different from the system Mitei inherited?
The difference is therefore not that TSC suddenly acquired functions it had never performed. The Commission already recruited teachers, processed transfers, conducted promotions, registered teachers, managed payroll, deployed staff and supervised professional development. The emerging difference is the direction and structure of these services: the previous system relied more heavily on established career structures, traditional qualification pathways and a combination of manual and digital administration, while the emerging system is moving towards more automated transfers, expanded digital services, alternative career pathways, greater subject specialisation, stronger continuous professional development, more visible county-level advisory engagement and closer alignment between teacher management and CBE.
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Ultimately, teachers will judge the reforms not by the number of circulars issued or systems launched, but by what happens in their daily professional lives. A teacher wants a transfer application that can be followed without repeated visits to offices. A newly recruited teacher wants payroll processing to be predictable. A classroom practitioner wants a credible route for professional advancement. A school leader wants teachers deployed according to actual staffing needs. A teacher facing an administrative challenge wants accessible and competent advisory support at county level.
Mitei’s tenure should therefore be understood as a period of recalibration rather than wholesale creation. Some reforms have already moved into operation. Others are being implemented. Still others remain proposals awaiting the necessary approvals. What distinguishes the current period is the attempt to move TSC towards a more digital, professionally regulated, field-responsive, flexible and CBE-aligned teacher-management system, while retaining the institutional structures that have long governed Kenya’s teaching service. The ultimate measure will be whether that transformation makes TSC more efficient, accessible and predictable for the teachers it employs, and, in turn, strengthens the quality of education delivered to learners across the country.
By Hillary Muhalya
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