President William Ruto’s promise to open 50,000 teacher promotion opportunities every year is facing its first major test, with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) now planning to promote only 34,016 teachers in the 2026/2027 financial year.

The figure leaves a 15,984 shortfall against the annual target announced by the President, raising questions over whether the promise was backed by a corresponding budget or was made without the resources needed to deliver it.

In September, 2025, President Ruto hosted more than 10,000 teachers, union officials and education stakeholders at State House, Nairobi, for the “Walimu na Rais” forum, where teachers raised concerns over prolonged stagnation in job grades and slow career progression.

In response, President Ruto announced that the annual allocation for teacher promotions would be doubled from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion, saying the increased funding would enable at least 50,000 teachers to be promoted every year from the following financial year.

The emerging dispute has pitted the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) against TSC, with the union accusing the commission of failing to honour the President’s commitment to progressively clear a backlog of more than 150,000 teachers who have stagnated in various grades.

Also Read: TSC to promote 34,016 teachers, applications close August

TSC Headquarters — Teachers Service Commission (TSC) headquarters in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

“The President was very clear that 50,000 vacancies must be declared per year to progressively address the stagnation of more than 150,000 teachers,” Kuppet secretary-general Akelo Misori said this week.

But TSC’s position exposes a fundamental problem. The commission says it cannot simply create 50,000 promotions without the money to meet the additional salary and employment costs that come with moving teachers to higher grades.

According TSC’s internal computations, an allocation of Sh2 billion will finance only 11,866 promotions, while a further 22,150 promotions will be funded through vacancies expected to arise as teachers leave the service. That brings the total planned promotions to 34,016, at an estimated cost of Sh6.333 billion.

The admission puts the cost of the President’s promise at the centre of the controversy.

TSC says promotions are not merely an administrative exercise because moving a teacher to a higher grade triggers higher salaries and allowances as well as increased pension contributions.

The commission’s figures show how far the additional funding goes. Under the Sh2 billion allocation, 7,716 primary school teachers will move from C1 to C2 at an annual cost of Sh1.416 billion, while 4,150 secondary school teachers will move from C3 to C4 at a cost of Sh584.1 million.

Together, the two categories account for the 11,866 promotions financed by the additional allocation.

Also Read: How TSC will score teachers seeking promotion

The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Evaleen Jesang Mitei before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education chaired by Julius Kibiwott Melly to consider the proposed annual budget estimates for FY 2026/27.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo| Nation Media Group

The remaining 22,150 promotions will rely on vacancies created through natural attrition.

TSC projects that 7,720 teachers will leave the service between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, creating vacancies that the commission says can be used to promote teachers who have remained in the same grades for the longest periods.

It is this approach that has drawn the strongest criticism from Kuppet.

The union argues that using vacancies created when teachers retire or leave the profession cannot be equated to creating the 50,000 new promotion opportunities promised by the President.

Kuppet wants TSC to instead introduce targeted promotions based on the length of time teachers have remained in particular grades, especially teachers stuck at C3 and C4 and those approaching retirement.

Also Read: TSC to promote 30,000 teachers in August as State injects Sh2 billion

The union also wants teachers who have served in grade D2 for at least three years promoted to D3, arguing that slow progression through the administrative grades has contributed to leadership gaps in schools.

According to Kuppet, hundreds of schools do not have substantive principals because teachers have limited opportunities to move from C4 and C5 into the D grades.

The row also extends to Junior Secondary School teachers.

Kuppet is protesting the exclusion of teachers who served on contract between January 2023 and December 2024, demanding that their two years of service under TSC be recognised when determining their career progression.

Diploma teachers are another source of tension.

Kuppet says TSC has allowed diploma teachers to move from C1 to C2 through common cadre promotions but has blocked their progression to C3, despite agreements reached with the union during two retreats in Naivasha.

The union is also demanding publication of teachers who qualified for promotion under the Presidential Award for Excellence in drama, music and sports.

The scheme, introduced by President Ruto in 2023, was intended to reward teachers who excel in co-curricular activities. Kuppet says failure to identify the beneficiaries undermines the incentive promised to teachers.

The union has further questioned the implementation of reserved promotion opportunities for teachers living with disabilities, saying TSC has not published data showing how many teachers in the category have benefited.

It has also criticised the allocation of only 20 promotion vacancies for teachers in special-needs schools across all grades.

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mesimiyu@ke.nationmedia.com