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Kenya’s education system is once again under the microscope following a heated controversy surrounding the latest teacher promotions conducted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). What was supposed to be a morale-boosting exercise for thousands of teachers has instead snowballed into a national debate that is gripping both Parliament and the public.
While the TSC insists it acted within its mandate, teachers across the country are crying foul over perceived favoritism, opaque processes, and skewed allocations. The discontent has reached the chambers of the National Assembly, where the Committee on Education has officially opened an investigation into the matter, demanding explanations and accountability from the commission.
In early April 2025, the Teachers Service Commission announced that 25,252 teachers had been promoted to new positions within the service. The exercise, which covered both primary and secondary school educators, was meant to address the chronic stagnation many teachers have faced over the years. The commission declared the move a major success, citing it as part of a broader strategy to boost career growth and enhance the quality of education across the country.
However, instead of being welcomed as progress, the announcement quickly triggered widespread frustration. Teachers and union leaders accused the TSC of unfair distribution of promotions, pointing out glaring imbalances between counties. For example, Machakos County received the highest number of promotions at 690, while other regions such as Garissa, Mandera, and Wajir were awarded fewer than 350 each. This uneven distribution has raised questions about whether political or ethnic favoritism played a role in the selection process.
The backlash was swift and loud. Lawmakers, particularly those from underrepresented counties, accused the TSC of operating in secrecy and neglecting the principles of equity. In Parliament, MPs grilled the commission’s leadership, demanding to know the criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries of these promotions. Many teachers claim that more deserving individuals, including long-serving educators with outstanding performance records, were bypassed in favor of others with less experience or qualifications.
Further complicating the matter is the lack of communication from the TSC regarding why certain teachers were promoted while others were not, leaving room for speculation and bitterness. At the heart of the matter is a perceived culture of silence and opacity within the TSC—a commission that, ironically, was created to ensure professionalism, fairness, and order within the teaching service. Now, with tensions simmering, its credibility is being openly questioned.
As the storm gathers, the TSC has defended itself by pointing to a major constraint: lack of adequate funding. According to the commission, more than 178,000 teachers have stagnated in the same job group for over three years, awaiting promotions that never came due to budget limitations. The TSC estimates it would need KSh35.5 billion to clear this backlog and offer meaningful career progression to every eligible teacher.
Unfortunately, the funds allocated in the current financial year have only covered a small fraction of that figure. This funding shortfall has forced the commission to make selective promotions—prioritizing some grades and regions while leaving others behind. While this explanation may hold water on a technical level, it does little to soothe the frustrations of teachers who feel they have been left in the cold. For them, it's not just about money—it's about fairness, dignity, and being recognized for their hard work.
The uproar has galvanized teacher unions and civil society organizations to demand a complete overhaul of the promotion framework. At the forefront of these calls is the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), which has branded the promotion list as discriminatory and flawed. The union is pushing for the immediate withdrawal of the list, a re-evaluation of the selection process, and the publication of clear, transparent criteria for all future promotions.
Lawmakers have echoed these sentiments, urging the TSC to consult more closely with stakeholders and to ensure that career advancement within the teaching profession is not tainted by favoritism or politics. Some have even proposed the creation of an independent oversight body to monitor TSC operations—an idea that, if implemented, could dramatically reshape the governance of Kenya’s education workforce. The larger issue here is one of trust. Without it, any initiative by the TSC, no matter how well-intended, is bound to face resistance.
In response to the outrage, the National Assembly Committee on Education has officially launched a full-scale probe into the promotion saga. Senior TSC officials, including CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia, have been summoned to explain the discrepancies and defend the commission’s actions. At the same time, the Senate is also conducting parallel investigations, with the two houses of Parliament determined to get to the bottom of what went wrong.
These inquiries are likely to continue for weeks, if not months, and they represent a rare moment of bipartisan consensus: both ruling and opposition legislators agree that the status quo cannot be allowed to persist. Meanwhile, affected teachers are being urged to remain patient as the process unfolds. Yet behind the scenes, the pressure is mounting. The TSC’s ability to restore its reputation—and maintain order in the nation’s classrooms—now depends on how transparently it handles the fallout, and how committed it is to long-term reform.
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