- Primary school headteachers will be redesignated as principals under TSC’s proposed career progression framework.
- Comprehensive schools are expected to have one principal, supported by deputies overseeing primary and junior sections.
- Classroom teachers will also have separate progression pathways, allowing advancement without taking school administration roles.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set to abolish the title of headteacher, with all heads of learning institutions to be redesignated as principals from July 1, 2027.
TSC Commissioner Timon Oyucho said the change will form part of a new Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) framework that is expected to introduce a unified leadership structure across schools.
Speaking during the Nyanza regional World Teachers’ Day celebrations at Kit-Mikayi in Seme Constituency, Oyucho said the new framework would place school administrators under a common career structure.
“All our principals shall start from Teacher Grade 3, all of them across the country,” he said.
Under the proposed arrangement, primary school headteachers will therefore take the title of principal, bringing them into the same leadership terminology used in secondary and other institutions.
The changes are also expected to reshape the management of comprehensive schools, where primary and junior school sections operate under one institution.
The proposed structure provides for one principal assisted by two deputies. One deputy would oversee the primary section, while the other would be responsible for the junior school section.
The arrangement is intended to provide clearer reporting lines as the education system continues to integrate primary and junior school education.
TSC Commissioner Antonina Lentoijoni, who was then the Commission’s director of staffing, had previously told the Senate that the Commission had encountered leadership challenges in comprehensive schools, particularly arising from differences in teachers’ training backgrounds.
She said some junior school teachers had questioned the authority of primary school heads because of their P1 training, describing the situation as part of the transition to the new education structure.
Separate career progression pathways
The redesignation will come alongside wider changes contained in the proposed CPG, which TSC says will provide separate career progression pathways for classroom teachers and administrators.
Oyucho said teachers who choose to remain in the classroom will be able to progress to the highest professional grades without necessarily moving into school administration.
The Commission has said the new framework will replace the 2018 Career Progression Guidelines when it takes effect in July 2027.
The proposed reforms are expected to alter both the terminology and organisation of school leadership as TSC aligns career progression with the competency-based education system.
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TSC has not yet provided a complete implementation schedule for every aspect of the new structure, meaning further details on the conversion of existing administrative positions and reporting arrangements are expected before the July 2027 rollout.
By Kithinji Njeru
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