Imagine teaching a class of 50 eager learners, shaping the nation’s future, but not knowing if you will still have a job next year. Picture dedicating every day to your students while waiting anxiously for a contract renewal letter that determines your fate.
For thousands of Kenyan teachers, this is no imagination, it is a daily reality. The tremor running through our education system is not in exams or infrastructure; it is in the very foundation of employment. Teachers are moving from permanent and pensionable terms to temporary, contract-based appointments, and the impact is shaking morale, destabilizing careers, and putting the future of our classrooms at risk.
For decades, teaching under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) symbolized security. A letter of appointment on permanent and pensionable terms was more than a job offer; it was a commitment that included long-term benefits such as pension, medical cover, access to loans, and predictable salary progression.
The law, specifically the Teachers Service Commission Code of Regulations for Teachers and the Teachers Service Commission Act, gives the Commission the authority to employ teachers either permanently or on contracts. Permanent appointments, when eligible and funded, guarantee pension benefits under the Pensions Act and reflect a legal and constitutional expectation that teachers form the backbone of the nation’s human capital.
Yet, in practice, the system has seen a growing number of teachers, particularly under the Junior Secondary School (JSS) rollout of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), serve as interns or on fixed-term contracts for years.
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These educators perform full teaching duties: delivering lessons, marking exams, mentoring students, leading clubs, and managing extracurricular activities, yet without the permanence, pension, or job security their colleagues enjoy. The legislation allows contracts as an interim measure, but extended reliance on such arrangements without clear pathways to permanency has fueled tension within the profession and drawn parliamentary scrutiny.
The implications of this practice are profound. Teachers on contract experience psychological stress, living in cycles of anticipation and anxiety over contract renewal. One veteran teacher remarked, “I don’t fear hard work, I fear uncertainty.”
December, for many contract teachers, is no longer a festive period but a season of apprehension. These anxieties extend beyond emotions. Contract teachers often struggle to secure mortgages, plan long-term financial commitments, or make major life decisions, because lenders perceive their employment as temporary. A young teacher even postponed wedding plans, fearing job insecurity could affect her ability to meet financial obligations.
The matter has captured the attention of Parliament. In 2023 and 2024, both the National Assembly and the Senate summoned TSC officials to justify prolonged use of contract appointments, questioning whether the practice aligns with statutory provisions and constitutional expectations. Committees urged the Commission to clarify timelines for converting qualified teachers from contract to permanent and pensionable terms, and in several instances, parliamentary resolutions directed TSC to absorb long-serving contract teachers into permanent employment.
In recent months, this legislative concern has been mirrored in fiscal debates. The TSC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has repeatedly appeared before Parliament, lobbying committees for budgetary allocations to transition all eligible contract teachers to permanent and pensionable status. Week after week, the CEO has engaged with the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee and other parliamentary forums, emphasizing that without additional funding, it is impossible to implement this transition, no matter the statutory or policy directives.
This repeated presence in Parliament is symbolic: it reflects the Commission’s recognition of the destabilizing impact of prolonged contract employment while exposing the stark reality that policy intention and budget capacity do not always align. Teachers and the public alike watch these sessions closely, aware that legislative promises of permanence remain contingent on fiscal approval.
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The tension between permanent and contract employment has deep ramifications for professional culture. Permanent employment fosters loyalty, long-term commitment, and confidence. Teachers on stable appointments invest in mentorship, school culture, and community engagement. Contract teachers, however dedicated, operate under the shadow of renewal uncertainty, and some hesitate to challenge administrative directives or innovate in teaching for fear of jeopardizing their next contract. Morale becomes fragile, and institutional memory is eroded as turnover rises. Veteran educators often contrast the metaphor of planting trees and retiring under their shade with the reality of young contract teachers, who tend to see the profession as transitional rather than lifelong.
This human cost is mirrored in fiscal and policy realities. Permanent employment carries higher long-term obligations for the treasury, including pensions, gratuity, and other benefits. Contract terms reduce immediate fiscal pressure and offer workforce flexibility, but at a high cost to teacher confidence and institutional continuity. Parliamentary debates have frequently centred on finding balance: ensuring fiscal sustainability while respecting the legal and constitutional expectation that eligible teachers receive permanent and pensionable appointments.
Union leaders have been pivotal in amplifying teacher voices in this debate. Both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have taken legal and parliamentary action, asserting that contract teachers who serve full-time duties for extended periods deserve conversion to permanent terms. Courts have ruled in favour of teachers in specific cases, declaring that prolonged internship models violate fair labour practice principles. The unions have consistently emphasized that accountability and performance evaluation are welcomed, but these should not be tied to uncertainty or temporary employment.
Parliament’s scrutiny, coupled with judicial intervention and public debate, has forced TSC to navigate a delicate path. On one hand, the Commission must respect the statutory and constitutional framework that envisions permanence for eligible teachers. On the other, it must operate within national budget constraints, which, in many instances, necessitate temporary or contract appointments as a stopgap measure. The CEO’s repeated lobbying at Parliament underscores the central challenge: policy clarity alone does not create security; financial provision is essential to make permanence a reality.
Teachers’ lived experiences illustrate the gravity of the issue. Contract employment affects day-to-day decision-making, from taking leave to committing to community projects or initiating innovative teaching methods. Financial planning becomes fraught; professional morale is tested; and in some cases, dedication is measured not by passion but by survival instincts. Permanent employees enjoy institutional and professional confidence that enables longer-term vision, while contract teachers navigate a system where the reward for commitment is uncertain.
The debate is not purely Kenyan. Globally, education systems have experimented with contract-heavy models in nations like India and Ghana, often with mixed results. While such systems allow flexibility and rapid staffing adjustments, they frequently introduce two-tier workforces, with permanent employees enjoying security and contract employees operating under continuous uncertainty. Lessons from these experiences reinforce that workforce stability is crucial in sectors like education, where outcomes are measured not in quarterly profit but in human development.
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The path forward requires a calibrated approach that balances flexibility with dignity, fiscal responsibility with professional respect, and statutory compliance with practical implementation. Hybrid solutions — such as contracts with defined pathways to permanence, transparent performance evaluation, and pension portability schemes — may reconcile the competing demands of the Treasury, the Commission, and the teachers themselves. What is clear is that reform must not become casualization; the teaching profession must retain its status as a vocation underpinned by both accountability and security.
Kenya’s education system, from policy corridors to rural classrooms, now stands at a crossroads. The legislation on contract and permanent terms is not merely administrative; it reflects a societal commitment to those shaping the nation’s future. When TSC lobbies Parliament for funding to convert teachers to permanent and pensionable terms, it is acknowledging that security, stability, and dignity are integral to professional effectiveness. Until this funding is realized, teachers will continue to shoulder the dual burden of full professional responsibility and employment uncertainty.
In classrooms across the country, the stakes are profound. A secure teacher teaches with confidence; an insecure teacher teaches with caution. When the system destabilizes the very workforce that educates the nation’s youth, the long-term costs are immeasurable. Legislative frameworks, union advocacy, judicial interventions, and the CEO’s repeated lobbying at Parliament all underscore one truth: teaching is too critical a profession to leave to uncertainty, and permanence is not merely a benefit but a necessity for a sustainable, effective education system.
Ultimately, Kenya must design employment systems that honour both accountability and security. Policies that create temporary workers in a vocation built for continuity risk undermining not only teacher morale but the nation’s educational future. The challenge is to reconcile fiscal prudence with professional dignity, legislative mandate with practical funding, and policy intent with real-world implementation. Success will ensure classrooms are spaces of growth and stability, where teachers can inspire, innovate, and invest in generations of learners without the shadow of insecurity clouding their professional commitment.
By Hillary Muhalya
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