Appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee on May 20, 2025, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) leadership—Nancy Macharia, Dr. Jamleck Muturi, and Cavin Anyuor—faced intense scrutiny over alleged disparities in its latest promotion cycle.
The Commission defended its promotion exercise, stating that all procedures followed the law and included affirmative action policies designed to reduce disparities in hard-to-staff areas and among marginalised groups.
“Following the recommendations of the job evaluation report, the salaries of all teachers in the public sector across all the grades were reviewed,” said the Commission.
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To address staffing gaps in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), TSC admitted that some requirements were relaxed. “The three-year grade requirement was reduced to a minimum of six months of service for teachers in counties with insufficient eligible candidates,” it said.
This adjustment led to the promotion of 5,291 teachers who would not have otherwise qualified. “Represents exceptional approval under equity provisions,” the Commission explained.
TSC also emphasised efforts to address gender and disability inclusivity.
“A total of 1,275 teachers with disabilities (5.049 per cent of promotions) were promoted in the 2024/2025 F/Y, ensuring compliance with the national disability framework.”
Additionally, it said, “Promotions achieved a gender distribution of 47.04 per cent female and 52.96 per cent male, exceeding the one-third gender rule.”
Regarding transfers after promotions, the Commission clarified that no mass reassignments had been made.
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“Teachers in non-administrative grades will be retained at their current stations,” noted TSC. “Allegations that promoted teachers were reassigned to different regions are inaccurate, as the process has not yet been finalised.”
The Commission further assured that automation, common cadre policies, and improved transparency would guide future promotion cycles.
“This digitised system will provide a platform for online application for advertised promotion vacancies, shortlisting, and notification of interview outcome and generation of promotion letters.”
By Joseph Mambili
