TSC Under Fire Over Promotion Of Over 5,000 Teachers Without Meeting Requirements

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been given three days to explain how 5,291 teachers were promoted without serving the required minimum of three years in their current job grades.

The National Assembly’s Education Committee, which met with TSC officials on Tuesday, raised concerns that the recent teacher promotions were unfair and favoured certain regions of the country. The committee said some teachers had waited up to 18 years for a promotion, only to be bypassed by others who had served for a much shorter time.

Lawmakers questioned TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia and Commission Chairperson Jamleck Muturi over what they termed as “unjustified waivers” and imbalanced promotion distribution.

“When you look at these promotions, it appears they were shared among commissioners,” said Igembe North MP Julius Manaiba. “In my constituency, only 30 teachers were promoted. What criteria is used in making these decisions?”

Committee chair Julius Melly, who is also the Tinderet MP, said they expect full data from TSC before next week’s meeting. “We are giving you seven days. Provide the information three days before the next meeting so we can properly analyse it. This is the last chance before we take further action,” he said.

Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera also raised questions about regional disparities. “How does a place like Lamu West promote 202 teachers, while others with more than 4,000 teachers promote fewer than 60?” he asked.

The promotions in question are part of a recent nationwide exercise that saw 25,252 teachers promoted. According to the figures presented to Parliament, the Kikuyu community had the highest number of promotions at 4,668, followed by the Kalenjin (4,003), Luhya (3,148), Luo (2,388), Kisii (1,923) and Meru (1,562).

Among sub-counties with the highest number of promoted teachers were Lamu West (202), Samburu Central (185), Baringo Central (163), West Pokot (149), and Tana Delta (143).

Defending the move, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia said the Commission faced challenges finding enough teachers who met the three-year requirement for promotion. She said a shortage of eligible candidates forced the Commission to lower the required period from three years to six months in some areas.

“To ensure that no county was left behind, we adopted a flexible approach. This was especially important in counties with staffing shortages or where many teachers were serving in acting positions,” said Macharia.

She added that the relaxation of rules helped promote 5,291 teachers who would otherwise have missed out. This included those in administrative roles such as principals and deputy principals in underserved and hard-to-staff regions.

“For example, in grade D3 for principals, there were not enough teachers in D2 with three years of experience. So, we reduced the requirement to six months in all 47 counties. For Deputy Principal III roles (grade D1), we did the same in 18 counties like Migori, Narok, Busia, Bomet, Homa Bay, Kwale, and Mandera,” she said.

Macharia noted that the promotions were also guided by a policy to reduce teacher transfers (delocalisation) and allow teachers to work near their home counties. She added that the Commission ensured gender balance, with women making up 47.04% of the promoted teachers, while 1,275 teachers with disabilities were also included.

She explained that a 2016 job evaluation had set the minimum grade levels for administrative positions, but many teachers—especially in hardship areas—were still serving in lower grades than required.

“In many ASAL and remote areas, school heads and deputies have been handling leadership roles for years without official appointments. Many are still in C2, C3 or C4 grades, even though they are supposed to be in D grades,” she said.