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In what is now a significant development within Kenya’s education sector, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has made the controversial decision to revoke the promotions of 1,864 teachers in ASAL (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands) regions.
This move, coming months after the teachers had celebrated their elevation to new job groups, has not only stirred discontent among educators but has also sparked national concern over fairness, procedural clarity, and the future of human resource policies in education.
The affected teachers were stationed across hardship zones including counties like Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit, Isiolo, and parts of Tana River.
One of the major reasons cited was the non-adherence to TSC’s established promotion frameworks. TSC has a rigid system governed by Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), appraisal metrics (TPAD), and job evaluation criteria.
However, a post-promotional audit revealed that some teachers were promoted without sitting for mandatory promotion interviews or were moved into grades where they lacked the qualifications or experience as per the job specifications. In essence, the system had been compromised by irregular approvals at regional levels, and the Commission had to act to protect the institutional credibility of TSC.
TSC regional offices are tasked with collecting and submitting verified data for promotion considerations. However, the Commission found multiple instances where teachers’ records were either exaggerated or entirely misrepresented.
For example:
-Some teachers were submitted as having completed three years in one grade while records showed otherwise.
-Others were promoted on grounds of continuous service in hardship areas without verification of duty attendance or compliance with performance appraisal tools.
This misinformation led to false approvals, and the Commission had to invalidate them after a comprehensive audit uncovered the inconsistencies.
Promotions within the public sector are not just about title changes—they carry major financial implications. Each promotion moves a teacher to a higher job group with better remuneration and benefits.
TSC had not received additional funding in the 2024/2025 financial year specifically for large-scale promotions in ASAL regions. The unintended financial burden posed by the 1,864 promotions risked blowing up the Commission’s wage bill, violating the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury ceilings.
Faced with this unsustainable pressure, TSC rescinded the promotions as a way of averting a broader budgetary crisis and ensuring the rest of the teaching workforce remained unaffected.
Another layer to the decision was the regional imbalance that arose from these promotions. While ASAL regions deserve affirmative action due to hardship conditions, the scale of the promotions created a perception of favoritism—particularly from teachers in other counties who felt left out of recent promotional exercises.
There were complaints from urban and peri-urban teachers in counties like Nairobi, Kiambu, Kisumu, and Nakuru, questioning why a significant percentage of promotions were being channeled to only a few regions.
To address this growing unrest and restore equity in teacher advancement, the Commission chose to roll back the ASAL-specific promotions until a more inclusive national framework could be implemented.
TSC is currently undertaking a review of its hardship policy, which includes re-evaluating incentive structures, posting terms, and promotion criteria for ASAL teachers.
The promotions issued earlier were done ahead of the formal adoption of these new guidelines, creating a contradiction between existing frameworks and pending reforms.
To avoid a legal quagmire and union backlash, TSC halted the implementation of promotions that weren’t fully anchored in law or policy. These will only proceed once the restructured ASAL strategy is finalized and gazetted.
The revocation of 1,864 teacher promotions in Kenya’s ASAL regions is not a reflection of incompetence or unworthiness by the affected teachers. Instead, it is the result of a procedural and structural failure within the Commission’s internal systems.
TSC insists that future promotions will adhere strictly to merit-based evaluations, financial sustainability, and equitable regional distribution. While the decision has been painful for those affected, the Commission maintains it was necessary to preserve the legitimacy, fairness, and stability of the teaching profession.
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