Details of new TSC promotion reforms for all teachers in Kenya

Details of the new TSC promotion reforms for teachers in Kenya can now be revealed. According to the promotion reforms, Kenyan teachers will no longer have to wait for decades in order to achieve the highest ranked promotion level.

At the same time, Kenyan teachers will be able to achieve these credentials and the accompanying pay raise without leaving the classroom. These TSC promotion reforms are contained in the 2026 Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) document.

In this document, the Teachers Service Commission has slashed the amount of time that is required for teachers to reach the highest grade from 30 to 18 years.

The reforms indicate that the teachers commission shall introduce separate career tracks to cater for classroom teachers and teachers who hold leadership and administrative roles. Under these tracks, teachers will move up within a unified grading structure that shall range from Teacher 9 to Teacher 1. Teacher 9 represents the entry-level grade while Teacher 1 represents the highest-level grade.

Teachers in primary school level will start their progression from Teacher 9 while those in secondary schools who hold diploma qualifications will start off at Teacher 8. According to the TSC, this shall mean that a diploma qualification will attract the same entry grade regardless of whether the teacher practices at primary school or secondary school.

For the second track catering for secondary school teachers, the majority will start off at Teacher 7. This group will mainly be made up of teachers who hold university degrees.

The proposed reforms show that this category of teachers will benefit from the first common cadre promotion of Teacher 6. After Teacher 6, subsequent promotion will primarily be based on the teacher’s demonstrated competency and performance instead of the current mode of automatic advancement.

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The majority of teachers based at Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) will start at Teacher 5 and move up through the full career structure up to the top level of Teacher 1.

After the release of the proposals, the Kenya National Teachers Union (KNUT) came out to raise the red flag on how youthful teachers with higher academic qualifications will be moved up.

“How will the framework accommodate such teachers so that they are not demoralized or disadvantaged by differences in the timing of qualification attainment?” KNUT Deputy Secretary General Hesbon Otieno asked.