Row as KUPPET rejects TSC promotion formula

Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori, his deputy Moses Nthurima and National vice chairman Julius Korir during a press briefing on May 14, 2025.[David Gichuru,Standard]

A fresh row has erupted between the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) after the union rejected the Commission's new promotion formula.

The union demanded that the number of advertised promotion vacancies be increased from 34,016 to 50,000, as President William Ruto had promised earlier.

KUPPET has also accused TSC of ignoring the President's commitment made during a meeting with teachers at State House on September 13, 2025, where he pledged that 50,000 teachers would be promoted annually to gradually clear a backlog of more than 150,000 teachers who have stagnated in the same job groups.

KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori said the Commission had instead advertised only 34,016 vacancies for the 2026/27 financial year, contrary to the President's directive.

"Of particular concern is the Commission's failure to advertise the exact number which the President himself had pronounced on 50,000 vacancies. The President was very clear that more vacancies must be declared to progressively address the stagnation of more than 150,000 teachers," he said.

Besides demanding additional promotion slots, the union also rejected TSC's newly introduced promotion scoring formula, saying it was developed without consulting teachers' representatives and does little to address career stagnation.

Under the new guidelines, candidates are scored using factors such as age, length of stay in the current grade, Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) ratings, academic qualifications and participation in co-curricular activities.

Misori questioned both the process and the criteria used to develop the framework; he also argued that promotions should be primarily based on experience and not age.

"Promotions are not supposed to be age-driven. They are supposed to be for experience," he said. ''If teachers are supposed to move to the next grade after every three years, then they should be looking at both the experience and the years of service. But when you come to promote somebody who entered service yesterday, then that means they don't have a policy of promotion. They just handpick."

KUPPET has also listed several other concerns with the promotion exercise, saying the Commission had failed to address acute leadership shortages in schools caused by slow progression from C4 and C5 grades to the D grades.

The union said hundreds of teachers have served in acting capacities, particularly as principals in northern Kenya, for more than six years without being substantively appointed and that It wants all teachers who have served for at least three years in D2 to be automatically promoted to D3 to fill existing leadership gaps.

KUPPET also urged TSC to lower promotion thresholds for teachers in C3 and C4 grades who have stagnated for years and are approaching retirement.

The union further protested the exclusion of Junior Secondary School teachers who served on two-year contracts between January 2023 and December 2024, saying their contractual service should count towards career progression.

It also accused TSC of reneging on an agreement reached during Naivasha retreats that would have allowed diploma teachers to progress from C2 to C3 under the common cadre promotion arrangement without interviews.

KUPPET has now given TSC seven days to respond to its concerns after the union formally writes to the Commission, warning that failure to act could trigger fresh industrial action.

 "What is left for us is obvious. If the Teachers Service Commission does not do justice to this, then they are calling back industrial action that we had thought was now behind us," Misori said.

He said the union would first engage the  Commission through a formal letter before announcing its next course of action.

"We are writing a letter to TSC. If they don't respond within seven days, then we'll call you back to tell you about anything called a timeline," Misori said.