More than 120,000 teachers are competing for just 34,016 promotion slots , with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) receiving 126,801 applications in its latest recruitment drive.
A TSC brief seen by Nation shows the Commission received the applications for positions advertised for 14 days from July 28 to August 10, 2026, meaning nearly four teachers are competing for every vacancy.
The positions comprise 33,906 teacher jobs and 110 Curriculum Support Officer positions.
Competition, however, has eased slightly from last year. Applications fell by 4,933 from 131,734, while the number of promotion vacancies rose by 12,703 from 21,313. The figures underline the scale of the promotion squeeze.
The first phase of interviews, targeting primary school teachers, will run from September 8 to 15. TSC has shortlisted 78,732 candidates for positions ranging from Senior Teacher II to Senior Head Teacher.
They include 7,581 candidates for Senior Head teacher, 303 for Senior Head teacher for Special Needs Education, 7,275 for Deputy Head teacher I, 529 for Deputy Head teacher I for Special Needs Education, 1,605 for Deputy Head teacher II, 627 for Deputy Head teacher II for Special Needs Education and 5,842 for Senior Teacher I. Senior Teacher II has the highest number, at 54,970.
The second phase will cover post-primary institutions and Curriculum Support Officers, with 40,081 candidates due for interviews.
The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Evaleen Mitei before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo| Nation Media Group
The positions include Deputy Principal II (2,764 candidates), Senior Lecturer I (90), Senior Master I (87), Deputy Principal III (936), Deputy Principal III for Special Needs Education (10), Senior Lecturer II (86), Senior Master II (243), Senior Lecturer III (86), Senior Master III (3,488), Senior Lecturer IV (185), Senior Master IV (30,314) and Secondary Teacher I (1,792).
Another 7,988 candidates will be interviewed at regional level for Post-Primary School Principal and Curriculum Support Officer positions.
They include Chief Principal (362), Chief Principal in Teachers Training Colleges (16), Senior Principal (2,985), Senior Principal in TTCs (58), Principal (1,517), Principal in TTCs (95), Principal for Special Needs Education (25), Curriculum Support Officer I (395), Curriculum Support Officer I for Special Needs Education (88) and Curriculum Support Officer II (2,447).
TSC has directed that primary school interviews be conducted at sub-county level under the supervision of the Sub-County Director.
“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 also directed officers to maintain the highest level of confidentiality, integrity and professionalism during the interviews.
The exercise comes amid pressure on the government to honour its pledge to increase annual teacher promotions. It also follows renewed pressure from the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) to clear long-standing promotion backlogs.
At its first National Governing Council meeting for the 2026–2031 term, Kuppet demanded that TSC advertise vacancies for 135,000 teachers who have remained in the same job groups for years.
“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.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akelo Misori.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
A report presented to the Senate Education Committee showed that 7,620 public primary schools had either head teachers or deputy head teachers serving in acting capacities. In secondary schools, another 3,612 institutions had either acting principals or deputy principals.
More than 11,200 public schools were therefore affected by leadership gaps, with teachers taking up administrative responsibilities in acting capacities.
The promotion exercise comes nearly a year after President William Ruto pledged to increase funding for teacher promotions and facilitate the promotion of 50,000 teachers annually.
At the September 2025 “Walimu na Rais” forum at State House, Nairobi, President Ruto announced that the annual allocation for teacher promotions would double from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion, saying the additional funding would support career progression.
According to sources familiar with the plan, who spoke in confidence, the additional Sh2 billion allocation will finance 11,866 promotions, while a further 22,150 will be funded through vacancies expected as teachers leave the service.
This brings the total planned promotions to 34,016, at an estimated cost of Sh6.333 billion.
A TSC source said the additional Sh2 billion allocation was sufficient only for the 11,866 promotions provided for through the additional budget.
