TSC Reforms Under Eveleen Mitei: What Has Actually Changed in 2026.
The Teachers Service Commission has announced more policy changes in the past year than at almost any point since the 2018 Career Progression Guidelines. Nearly all of it has happened under Acting Commission Secretary and CEO Eveleen Mitei, who has held the office since Nancy Macharia’s retirement in June 2025.
But announcements and implementation are not the same thing. Some of what’s circulating about TSC right now is confirmed policy. Some is still a proposal stuck at the approval stage. And at least one widely shared claim about TSC reforms this year was fabricated. Here’s where things actually stand, department by department.
Mitei’s own position is still unsettled
Before looking at teacher-facing reforms, it’s worth noting something the wider conversation often skips: Mitei’s own tenure has been legally contested for most of 2026.
By law, an acting CEO cannot serve more than two consecutive six-month terms. Mitei’s acting appointment technically reached that limit around June 30, 2026, with the substantive recruitment process frozen by court injunctions almost the entire time.
On 17 September 2026, the High Court quashed TSC’s 2025 recruitment exercise altogether, ruling that the application window had been shortened to 13 days against a required minimum of 14, and that the proposed remuneration hadn’t been disclosed as required. The court ordered a fresh, re-advertised process rather than simply picking from the existing shortlist.
Practically, this means Mitei remains in the acting seat while TSC restarts recruitment for a substantive CEO — and she is free to apply again under the reset process. Nothing in the ruling disqualifies her; it resets the competition to the starting line for every eligible candidate, including her.
Teacher transfers: real change, not a new invention
TSC didn’t invent digital transfers under Mitei — online applications existed before her tenure. What changed is the sophistication of the system. The Teacher Transfer and Swap Module, piloted from August to November 2025 and expanded through 2026, now offers:
- Automated matching for mutual swaps based on subject combination and school category
- Real-time status tracking for teachers, replacing repeated office visits
- A reduced discretionary role for headteachers and principals, who can now only add recommendations and view status — not block a transfer outright
- Automatic dispatch of approved transfer letters
Read Also: P1 Teachers “C Plain” Rule: What TSC’s New JSS Threshold Means
Approved transfers still generally take effect only during school holidays, unless classified as emergencies with supporting documentation. Access is through the teacher portal at portal.tsc.go.ke, using the same credentials as the Teachers Online Services (TOS) system — a detail that trips up a lot of teachers who assume it’s a separate login.
Career Progression Guidelines: signed, but not yet approved by SRC
This is the reform generating the most confusion, so the sequence of events matters.
On 18 June 2026, TSC signed a revised Career Progression Guidelines agreement with KNUT, KUPPET and KUSNET. The proposed 2026 CPG would:
| Feature | Old CPG (2018) | Proposed 2026 CPG |
|---|---|---|
| Time to highest grade | Up to ~30 years | ~18 years |
| Career levels | 56 | 43 |
| Route to top grade | Largely tied to administrative posts | Separate classroom and administrative pathways |
| Entry grade (secondary, degree holder) | — | Teacher 7 |
| Entry grade (secondary, diploma holder) | — | Teacher 8 |
| Entry grade (TTC lecturers) | — | Teacher 5 |
The central idea — a dedicated classroom teaching pathway to the top grade, alongside the existing administrative-leadership pathway — is the most significant philosophical shift in how TSC has approached promotion.
Special Needs Education teachers, Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) and Kenya Institute for the Blind (KIB) lecturers, and Curriculum Support Officers have also been incorporated into structured ladders under the revised framework.
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Here’s the part that matters most for accuracy: by law, any CPG affecting remuneration must be evaluated and approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) before implementation. As of this writing, SRC had not issued a public, verified ruling on the proposal.
A letter dated 6 July 2026, claiming SRC had formally rejected the guidelines over affordability concerns, spread widely on social media and was picked up by several outlets.
TSC, SRC and fact-checking organisation PesaCheck all confirmed the letter was fabricated — no such rejection exists in SRC’s official communications. If you’ve seen headlines saying SRC “rejected” the CPG, treat them with caution unless they cite an official SRC statement, not the circulated letter.
Bottom line: the 2026 CPG is signed by TSC and the unions, but it is not yet law. It cannot be treated as though every teacher has already moved onto the two-track system.
Promotions are happening now — separately from the CPG debate
It’s important not to conflate the proposed CPG with TSC’s ongoing promotion exercises, which continue under the existing 2018 framework while the new guidelines await approval. TSC has told Parliament it is targeting roughly 30,000 teacher promotions this financial year, subject to attrition through retirement and other exits.
In September 2026, Mitei personally toured verification centres in counties including Uasin Gishu to monitor the integrity of promotion and World Teachers’ Day awards verification, alongside teacher-management field checks.
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The five-year renewable licence: announced, not yet operational
At the 49th Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) conference in Mombasa on 25 June 2026, Mitei announced that TSC intends to tie teaching-licence renewal to a mandatory, free, five-year Teacher Professional Development (TPD) cycle — mostly online, with limited face-to-face components.
This would be a structural change. Currently, a TSC Certificate of Registration is a one-time credential that never expires. Under the proposed system, that would be replaced with a renewable licence, similar to how lawyers and other regulated professionals renew practising certificates.
Two things are worth flagging for accuracy:
- Mitei explicitly described this as a proposal being “fine-tuned before official rollout” — not a system already in force.
- TPD itself is not new. It predates Mitei by years. What’s new is the proposal to make its completion a legal precondition for continuing to hold a valid teaching licence.
Until a Legal Notice or gazetted regulation formally establishes the licensing regime, teachers should treat this as a coming requirement to prepare for, not something they need to comply with immediately.
Teacher registration: single-subject teachers and lower entry grades
TSC has moved to revise Legal Notice No. 50 of the Code of Regulations for Teachers — the instrument governing registration requirements. Two changes stand out:
- Single-subject registration for secondary teachers. Previously, secondary teachers needed two teaching subjects to register. TSC now says it will register teachers qualified in just one subject, aimed squarely at specialised CBE learning areas facing acute shortages — subjects such as aviation, marine and fisheries, media technology, theatre and film, fine arts, and Mandarin.
- Lower entry threshold for primary teachers. Proposed amendments to Regulation 20 would allow a Diploma in Education holder with a KCSE mean grade of C (Plain) and at least a C+ in one teaching subject to qualify for registration and JSS deployment — opening a path for experienced P1 teachers who previously upgraded their qualifications but remained locked out by the old grade requirement.
As with the CPG and the licensing proposal, these are announced revisions to the legal framework rather than confirmed, fully implemented rules. Teachers relying on single-subject or lower-grade eligibility should confirm current registration requirements directly with TSC before assuming the change already applies to their application.
Read Also: TSC Closes September Payroll as PAYE Relief Slips to October
What’s already running: TIMEC, JSS deployment, and field engagement
Unlike the proposals above, a few programmes are genuinely operational and simply being expanded under Mitei:
- TIMEC (Teacher Induction, Mentorship and Coaching) continues to support newly recruited and serving teachers, and its rollout has been strengthened rather than newly created.
- JSS deployment of eligible primary teachers continues through online applications, part of the wider restructuring toward the pre-primary–primary–JSS–senior-school CBE structure. This process predates Mitei; what’s changed is the degree of digital and structured management around it.
- Field engagement. TSC officials, including Mitei herself, have increasingly conducted direct county and school visits — for promotion verification, staffing audits, and engagement with education officers — rather than relying solely on headquarters correspondence.
Secretariat staff: one of the clearest Mitei-era decisions
Separate from classroom teachers, TSC issued Circular No. 7/2026 on 8 June 2026, moving Secretariat staff in Grades 3 to 6 from fixed-term contracts to permanent and pensionable terms, effective 18 May 2026.
Staff will be enrolled in the TSC Staff Retirement and Benefits Scheme, contributing 10% of basic salary against a 20% employer contribution, with a three-month window to decide whether to transfer or cash out existing gratuity.
This is a genuinely confirmed, dated policy — but it hasn’t gone entirely smoothly. The Kenya Independent Commissions Workers Union (KICOWU) formally objected in July 2026, demanding the transition be paused until affected staff are given a choice and proper consultation, a dispute that appears unresolved as of this writing.
TSC separately told Parliament it plans to confirm around 20,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms during the 2026/27 financial year, once their two-year internship period ends around January 2027.
Read Also: Dr. Samwel Marigat Named New TSC Director of Staffing
Payroll and salaries: continuity, not reinvention
TSC’s national payroll predates Mitei by years, and salary structures involve the Salaries and Remuneration Commission as much as TSC itself. What can fairly be credited to the current administration is closer attention to timely processing of salary and payroll cases, particularly for newly recruited teachers — not the creation of the salary structure itself.
Confirmed, in-progress, and still proposed — at a glance
| Status | Reforms |
|---|---|
| Confirmed / operational | Teacher Transfer and Swap Module; ongoing promotions under the existing CPG; TIMEC mentorship; JSS deployment; field/county advisory visits; Secretariat staff permanent terms (Grades 3–6); continued payroll administration |
| In active development | Revised 2026 Career Progression Guidelines (signed by TSC and unions, pending SRC approval); registration reforms for single-subject and lower-entry-grade teachers |
| Proposed, not yet in force | Five-year renewable teaching licence tied to mandatory TPD completion |
TSC Reforms Under Eveleen Mitei: What Has Actually Changed in 2026.
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