TSC Promotes over 25,000 teachers after waiving three-year rule

Over 25,000 teachers have been promoted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), including more than 5,000 who had not served the usual three-year period in their current grades, as the commission moved to fill staffing gaps in schools across the country.

The commission announced that 25,252 teachers had been promoted in a recent exercise, with 5,291 of them advancing despite not meeting the minimum service requirement.

Most of these promotions were for principal and deputy headteacher positions, where there were not enough qualified candidates to match available vacancies.

“In the just concluded promotion exercise, the number of teachers who had met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades fell significantly short of the number of vacancies,” the commission said in a statement dated May 22, 2025.

To address the shortfall, TSC temporarily lowered the requirement to six months in grade, a move aimed at broadening the pool of candidates and filling vacant leadership roles, especially in regions facing recruitment and retention challenges.

“This policy decision helped ensure that the vacancies were competitively filled, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where recruitment and retention have been difficult,” the commission stated.

Of the 5,291 teachers promoted under the waiver, 3,427 were appointed to the key administrative roles of principal and deputy headteacher.

Specifically, 1,410 teachers were promoted to principal positions under Grade D3, while 3,686 were appointed as deputy headteachers under Grade C4.

However, only 598 teachers had served long enough to qualify for the 1,410 principal posts, and 7,460 qualified for the 3,686 deputy headteacher slots.

The promotion exercise was made possible through a Sh1 billion allocation from the National Assembly, though the funds were only enough to support 5,690 of the total 25,252 vacancies.

TSC has asked that all teachers promoted under the temporary measure be retained in their new positions, noting that the waiver was necessary to close leadership gaps in schools.

The commission also announced plans to develop and publish standardised promotion guidelines through a public consultation process involving teachers, unions and other stakeholders.

“The new framework will comply with constitutional principles including equity, inclusiveness and non-discrimination,” the statement read.

“The commission remains committed to ensuring fair and accountable processes in future promotions.”