92,785 Teachers Set to Miss Out in TSC’s 34,016-Slot Promotion Exercise.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has received 126,801 applications for 34,016 promotion positions in its latest recruitment exercise, with the Commission preparing to conduct interviews for shortlisted teachers beginning September 8, 2026.
The applications were submitted following an advertisement published by the Commission for a period of 14 days from July 28 to August 10, 2026.
The 34,016 positions comprise 33,906 teacher promotion positions and 110 Curriculum Support Officer positions.
The number of applications represents a reduction of 4,933 from the 131,734 applications received in the previous year. At the same time, the number of available promotion positions has increased by 12,703 from the 21,313 positions advertised previously.
Primary School Teacher Promotion Interviews
The first phase of the promotion interviews will target teachers serving in primary schools and will be conducted from September 8 to September 15, 2026.
The Teachers Service Commission has shortlisted 78,732 candidates for positions ranging from Senior Teacher II to Senior Head Teacher.
The shortlisted candidates are distributed across the advertised positions as follows:
- Senior Head Teacher – 7,581 candidates
- Senior Head Teacher for Special Needs Education – 303 candidates
- Deputy Head Teacher I – 7,275 candidates
- Deputy Head Teacher I for Special Needs Education – 529 candidates
- Deputy Head Teacher II – 1,605 candidates
- Deputy Head Teacher II for Special Needs Education – 627 candidates
- Senior Teacher I – 5,842 candidates
- Senior Teacher II – 54,970 candidates
Senior Teacher II has the highest number of shortlisted candidates in the primary school category, with 54,970 teachers scheduled for interviews.
The Commission has directed that the primary school interviews be conducted at sub-county level under the supervision of the Sub-County Director.
The TSC County Director has been directed to invite all shortlisted candidates in writing through letters indicating the date, time and venue of the interviews and specifying the documents required during the exercise.
“The TSC County Director shall invite all shortlisted candidates in writing through letters communicating the date, time and venue of the interview and inform candidates of the documents to present during the interviews. County Director must ensure that venues for the interviews are accessible to candidates with disability,” said TSC.
The Commission has further directed its officers involved in the exercise to maintain the highest level of confidentiality, integrity and professionalism during the interviews.
Post-Primary Teacher Promotion Interviews
The second phase of the exercise will cover teachers serving in post-primary institutions and Curriculum Support Officer positions.
A total of 40,081 candidates are scheduled for interviews under this phase.
The shortlisted candidates comprise:
- Deputy Principal II – 2,764 candidates
- Senior Lecturer I – 90 candidates
- Senior Master I – 87 candidates
- Deputy Principal III – 936 candidates
- Deputy Principal III for Special Needs Education – 10 candidates
- Senior Lecturer II – 86 candidates
- Senior Master II – 243 candidates
- Senior Lecturer III – 86 candidates
- Senior Master III – 3,488 candidates
- Senior Lecturer IV – 185 candidates
- Senior Master IV – 30,314 candidates
- Secondary Teacher I – 1,792 candidates
Senior Master IV has the largest number of shortlisted candidates in the post-primary category, with 30,314 teachers scheduled for interviews.
Regional-Level Interviews
A further 7,988 candidates will be interviewed at regional level for Post-Primary School Principal and Curriculum Support Officer positions.
The candidates are distributed across the positions as follows:
- Chief Principal – 362 candidates
- Chief Principal in Teachers Training Colleges – 16 candidates
- Senior Principal – 2,985 candidates
- Senior Principal in Teachers Training Colleges – 58 candidates
- Principal – 1,517 candidates
- Principal in Teachers Training Colleges – 95 candidates
- Principal for Special Needs Education – 25 candidates
- Curriculum Support Officer I – 395 candidates
- Curriculum Support Officer I for Special Needs Education – 88 candidates
- Curriculum Support Officer II – 2,447 candidates
The positions include leadership positions in schools and Teachers Training Colleges as well as Curriculum Support Officer positions.
Promotion Backlog and School Leadership Gaps
The promotion exercise is being conducted amid calls for increased funding for teacher promotions and the clearance of promotion backlogs.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has previously called on the Teachers Service Commission to advertise additional promotion vacancies for teachers who have remained in the same job groups for extended periods.
At its first National Governing Council meeting for the 2026–2031 term, Kuppet demanded that vacancies be advertised for the promotion of 135,000 teachers.
“We are demanding that the TSC immediately advertise vacancies for the promotion of 135,000 teachers who have stagnated in their job groups. We also want them to implement the second phase of the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement and should immediately truncate the third and fourth phases of the CBA to be implemented in July 2027,” said Kuppet Secretary-General Akelo Misori.
A report presented to the Senate Education Committee indicated that 7,620 public primary schools had either head teachers or deputy head teachers serving in acting capacities.
In secondary schools, a further 3,612 institutions had either acting principals or deputy principals.
The figures indicated that more than 11,200 public schools had leadership positions being occupied in acting capacities.
Government Funding for Teacher Promotions
The current promotion exercise follows a pledge made by President William Ruto to increase government funding for teacher promotions.
During the September 2025 “Walimu na Rais” forum held at State House, Nairobi, President Ruto announced that the annual allocation for teacher promotions would be increased from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion.
The additional funding was announced as part of measures to support teacher career progression.
According to sources familiar with the plan, the additional Sh2 billion allocation will finance 11,866 promotions, while a further 22,150 promotions will be funded through vacancies expected to arise as teachers leave the service.
The two components account for the planned 34,016 promotions.
The total estimated cost of the planned promotions is Sh6.333 billion.
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A TSC source said the additional Sh2 billion allocation was sufficient only for the 11,866 promotions provided for through the additional budget.
The promotion interviews are scheduled to proceed in phases covering primary schools, post-primary institutions and regional-level positions.
92,785 Teachers Set to Miss Out in TSC’s 34,016-Slot Promotion Exercise.
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