- TSC has announced plans to promote 34,016 teachers, falling short of Ruto’s 50,000 target by 15,984 positions.
- KUPPET has rejected TSC’s use of attrition-based vacancies to help meet the promotion target, calling for grade-specific promotions instead.
- The union has raised additional concerns over JSS contract teachers, diploma teacher progression, and unpublished data on excellence and disability-reserved promotions.
15,984 teachers are set to miss out on the annual promotion opportunities after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announced plans to promote 34,016 teachers in the 2026/2027 financial year, falling short of President William Ruto’s 50,000-teacher target by 15,984 promotions and setting up a fresh dispute with the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
TSC says the shortfall comes down to funding. Of the total planned promotions, only 11,866 will be financed directly through an additional Sh2 billion allocation, while the remaining 22,150 will depend on vacancies expected to arise as teachers leave the service.
TSC projects that 7,720 teachers will exit between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, and says those vacancies can be used to promote teachers who have remained in the same grades for the longest periods.
Under the Sh2 billion allocation, 7,716 primary school teachers will move from job group C1 to C2 at an annual cost of Sh1.416 billion, while a further 4,150 secondary school teachers will be promoted from C3 to C4 for Sh584.1 million. Together, these two groups account for the 11,866 promotions funded through the new money. TSC maintains that promotions carry costs beyond salary increases alone, since they also raise allowances and pension contributions, making the exercise more than an administrative formality.
However, KUPPET has rejected the commission’s approach of counting attrition-driven vacancies toward the 50,000 target, arguing that positions created when teachers retire or leave the profession cannot be treated as new promotion opportunities under the pledge Ruto made.
“The President was very clear that 50,000 vacancies must be declared per year to progressively address the stagnation of more than 150,000 teachers,” KUPPET secretary general Akelo Misori said, as quoted by a local daily.
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The union is instead pushing for targeted promotions based on how long teachers have stayed in particular grades, singling out those stuck at C3 and C4 as well as teachers nearing retirement. Kuppet also wants teachers who have served in grade D2 for at least three years elevated to D3, arguing that slow movement through the administrative grades has left hundreds of schools without substantive principals, since teachers have had limited opportunities to progress from C4 and C5 into the D grades.
The current shortfall traces back to a commitment Ruto made in September 2025, when he announced during the Walimu na Rais forum at State House, Nairobi, that the annual allocation for teacher promotions would be doubled from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion. Speaking before more than 10,000 teachers, union officials and education stakeholders who had raised concerns over prolonged stagnation in job grades, Ruto said the increased funding would enable at least 50,000 teachers to be promoted every year starting the following financial year.
KUPPET has also raised several related grievances tied to the promotion exercise. The union is protesting the exclusion of Junior Secondary School teachers who served on contract between January 2023 and December 2024, and wants their two years of service under TSC recognised in determining their career progression.
Diploma teachers are also at the centre of the disagreement. KUPPET says TSC has allowed diploma teachers to move from C1 to C2 through common cadre promotions but has blocked their progression to C3, despite agreements reached with the union during two retreats held in Naivasha.
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The union is further demanding the publication of teachers who qualified for promotion under the Presidential Award for Excellence in drama, music and sports, a scheme Ruto introduced in 2023 to reward teachers who excel in co-curricular activities. KUPPET says the failure to identify beneficiaries undermines the incentive promised to teachers.
KUPPET has also questioned the implementation of reserved promotion opportunities for teachers living with disabilities, saying TSC has not published data showing how many teachers in this category have benefited. The union has additionally criticised the allocation of only 20 promotion vacancies for teachers in special-needs schools across all grades.
By Masaki Enock
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