A total of 23,388 teachers whose promotions had been under parliamentary review will now start receiving higher salaries after the National Assembly Education Committee authorized the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to proceed with the promotion process.
These teachers have been waiting a final decision since April 2, when TSC announced their new job groups. The Education Committee, temporarily halted the promotions following allegations of irregularities and launched an investigation.
Committee Chair Julius Melly, revealed to one of the local dailys, that the promotions are now set to be implemented immediately.
The committee also recommended that counties with larger populations receive a proportional share of the promotions to ensure fairness.
Melly noted that teachers who have been in one grade for seven years and are three years away from retirement were given top priority.
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However, Members of Parliament instructed that 1,864 teachers be removed from the promotions list after discovering that they had not completed the required three years in their current job grades before being promoted, as stipulated by TSC regulations.
TSC informed the law makers that, 5,291 teachers had been promoted despite not having served the required three years in their current job grades. Of these, the commission requested that 3,427 teachers—specifically in grades D3 (principal) and C4 (deputy principal), be retained in their new positions.
These roles are critical for school leadership and succession planning, and, according to TSC, had insufficient qualified applicants.
“In a nutshell, the two grades which are administrative positions 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 six months’ service,” the commission said in its submission.
The committee had required TSC to justify relaxing the three-year requirement by proving an actual shortage of qualified teachers eligible for promotion.
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In response, TSC said it analysed its database before advertising the positions in November last year to evaluate the availability of eligible candidates.
That review revealed that although 1,410 positions were available for Grade D3, only 598 teachers had served the necessary three years in Grade D2 by the advertisement date.
For Grade C3, 7,460 teachers met the three-year requirement, compared to 3,386 available Grade C4 (Deputy Head teacher) positions. However, many of those eligible did not apply.
“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,” the TSC said.
With this waiver in place, Grade D3 received 1,694 applications for 1,410 vacancies, and Grade C4 saw 4,521 applications for 3,386 openings.
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For the Deputy Principal III (Grade D1) positions, the TSC also waived the rules in 18 counties including Migori, Busia, Bomet, Homa Bay, Kwale, and Mandera.
The commission emphasized that its standard practice is to shortlist at least three candidates for each vacancy to ensure competitive selection and appoint the most qualified individuals.
Following the November 2024 advertisement, TSC promoted 1,410 teachers to Grade D3 and 3,386 to Grade C4 nationwide.
Beyond the rule waiver aimed at solving leadership gaps, TSC said the move was also intended to address a shortage of applicants in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) and other challenging areas.
Their review of staffing in ASAL and hard-to-staff regions showed many school administrators are working in grades below their level of responsibility and without acting or special duty allowances.
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The National Assembly had set aside Ksh1 billion for teacher promotions, but the TSC said this was enough to promote only 5,690 teachers. The remaining 19,598 vacancies emerged due to staff exits during the current financial year ending June 30.
At a prior meeting on April 14, 2025, committee members accused TSC of using unclear criteria and not adhering to fairness in the promotions.
TSC data also showed that five ethnic groups—Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Kamba, and Luo, received more than two-thirds of all promotions, raising concerns about ethnic representation. The TSC defended its actions, saying promotions were based on the availability of qualified candidates by region and subject specialization.
By Cornelius korir
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