The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has finally set in motion the deployment of primary school teachers to Junior Schools, marking the end of a six-month wait for hundreds of educators who had applied for the transition.
In an internal memo dated 16 September 2026 and addressed to all TSC Regional, County and Sub-County Directors, the Commission confirmed that out of 1,541 applications received from primary school teachers seeking deployment to Junior Schools, 866 were validated, verified and found qualified.
Regional and county offices have now been directed to conduct further vetting and proceed with deployment in line with detailed guidelines issued alongside the lists.
For many of the affected teachers, most of whom have spent years stagnating in Job Group C1, the announcement represents a long-awaited career breakthrough.
It also signals the latest step in TSC’s broader strategy to address a staffing crisis in Junior Schools that has persisted since the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) transitioned learners into Grades 7, 8 and 9.
A Long-Awaited Career Progression
For years, primary school teachers holding diploma and degree qualifications have complained of being trapped in lower job groups despite possessing the academic credentials to teach at secondary level.
The introduction of Junior Schools under CBC created an opportunity for such teachers to move into a category that better matches their qualifications, but the process of vetting, verifying and formally deploying them has been slow and, for many applicants, frustrating.
The 16 September memo, signed by TSC acting CEO Evaleen Mitei, put an end to months of uncertainty by confirming that the verification exercise had been concluded for 866 of the 1,541 applicants.
The remaining applications either failed to meet the minimum qualification threshold or await further scrutiny.
For the successful 866, the Commission has now handed the matter over to Sub-County, County and Regional Directors to complete the on-the-ground vetting and issue deployment or appointment letters.
Who Qualifies for Deployment
The memo lays out strict eligibility criteria that every teacher on the list must satisfy before a letter can be issued. To qualify, a teacher must:
- Hold active registration with TSC as a teacher.
- Be currently employed and serving as a primary school teacher under the Commission.
- Not be under interdiction or subject to any ongoing disciplinary process.
- Hold at least a Diploma in Education with a minimum grade of C+ at KCSE (or its equivalent), including C+ in two teaching subjects offered under either the 8-4-4 or CBC curriculum, or alternatively two principal passes and one subsidiary pass at “A” Level.
- Where a teacher attained a mean grade of C (plain) at KCSE, they may still qualify if they have completed both a Diploma in Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Similarly, teachers who scored a C plain but completed a pre-university bridging course before 31 December 2015, and attained C+ or better in two teaching subjects, are also eligible.
- Holders of a Bachelor of Education (Primary Option) are explicitly excluded from deployment, since the qualification is designed for primary-level instruction rather than the secondary-level subject specialisation required in Junior Schools.
- Crucially, a teacher must have formally expressed interest in Junior School deployment, with their name appearing on the officially compiled list.
These criteria are meant to ensure that only teachers with the requisite secondary-level teaching qualifications are moved into Junior Schools, which under CBC increasingly resemble lower secondary school in terms of subject specialisation and curriculum demands.
The Vetting Process
Before any deployment letter is signed, Sub-County Directors have been instructed to conduct a fresh round of document verification.
Applicants are required to produce original documents alongside certified copies for record purposes, including their degree or diploma certificates, academic transcripts, Special Needs Education (SNE) qualification certificates where applicable, and KCSE certificates or their equivalent.
Teachers must also submit a copy of their current pay slip and a declaration from their Head of Institution confirming that they are actively serving, are not under interdiction, and are not facing any disciplinary process.
This layer of local verification is designed to catch any discrepancies that may have slipped through the initial validation exercise at Sub-County and County level, and to protect the integrity of the deployment list before letters are formally issued.
How the Deployment Will Be Carried Out
Once vetting is complete, the actual issuance of letters follows a clear chain of authority. Deployment letters for teachers remaining within their current Sub-County will be signed by the respective Sub-County Director.
Where a teacher is being moved to a station outside their current Sub-County, the letter will instead be signed by the County Director or, in the case of Nairobi, the Regional Director.
In deciding where to post each teacher, Sub-County Directors have been asked to weigh several factors. Proximity to the teacher’s current station takes priority, with the Commission preferring that teachers be retained at or near their existing schools rather than being moved long distances.
Subject combination is also a consideration: directors are discouraged from posting multiple teachers with identical subject specialisations to the same station unless the school specifically requires more than one teacher in that combination.
Gender balance at each station is also to be taken into account, and teachers holding SNE qualifications are to be prioritised for posting to Special Junior Schools where their specialised training can be put to use.
All deployments are to be carried out using standard templates issued by the Commission, which directors have been urged to study carefully before use.
Each teacher will receive two signed letters — one retained by the teacher and a second submitted alongside their deployment documents for filing at TSC headquarters.
Salary Grades and What the Payslip Will Look Like
One of the most closely watched aspects of this deployment is the change in remuneration that comes with the new grading.
The memo sets out several grade-progression scenarios depending on a teacher’s current job group and academic qualification:
- Teachers currently at Grades B5 and C1 who hold a Bachelor’s degree will be appointed to Grade C2.
- Teachers at Grade B5 holding a Diploma in Education will be appointed to Grade C1.
- Teachers at Grade C2 with a Bachelor’s degree who were promoted on or before 30 September 2023 will be appointed to Grade C3.
- Teachers at Grade C1 holding a Diploma Certificate who were promoted on or before 30 September 2023 will be appointed to Grade C2.
- Teachers at Grade C1 with a Diploma Certificate who have not yet served three years in that grade will instead receive deployment letters, as will diploma holders already at Grade C2 and above.
- Teachers at Grade C3 and above with a Bachelor’s degree will similarly be issued deployment letters rather than fresh appointment letters, since they already hold the appropriate grade.
For the majority of P1 teachers who have spent years stuck at C1, this means many will move up to Grade C2 — a significant step in a career progression ladder that has, for a long time, felt frozen.
At Grade C2, a teacher will earn a basic salary ranging from a minimum of Ksh 39,070 to a maximum of Ksh 49,100, depending on where they fall within the salary scale.
On top of the basic salary, teachers will be entitled to a house allowance, the amount of which depends on their duty station.
Teachers posted to stations outside major urban centres will receive Ksh 9,600 as house allowance. However, those deployed to Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru cities, as well as the municipalities of Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi, Kakamega and Kitale, will receive a higher house allowance of Ksh 12,800, reflecting the higher cost of housing in these urban centres. Teachers posted within Nairobi City will receive the highest house allowance rate at Ksh 16,500.
Beyond basic pay and housing, deployed teachers will also be entitled to a commuter allowance of Ksh 5,000 per month to cushion them against transport costs to and from their duty stations.
They will additionally receive an annual leave allowance of Ksh 6,000, which, unlike the monthly allowances, is paid as a lump sum once a year in January.
For teachers who find themselves posted to areas officially designated as hardship zones — typically remote, hard-to-staff regions — an additional hardship allowance of Ksh 10,900 will be paid on top of the other allowances.
This is intended to incentivise teachers to take up postings in areas that would otherwise struggle to attract sufficient staffing.
Taken together, the improved basic salary and layered allowance structure represent a meaningful jump in take-home pay for teachers moving from C1 to C2, and an even more significant one for those who have waited years at the lower grade without progression.
Reporting Requirements and Compliance
The deployment process does not end with the signing of letters. The memo places heavy emphasis on proper documentation through TSC’s online systems.
Immediately after a teacher is deployed, County Directors are required to initiate the posting process through the Posting, Entry/Exit Reports Module, after which Sub-County Directors complete the posting to the Junior School.
The Head of Institution releasing a teacher must promptly submit an Exit Report so that the receiving Head of Institution can, in turn, submit an Entry Report confirming the teacher’s arrival.
Notably, the Commission has stressed that all these processes must be conducted online, stating clearly that it no longer recognises or processes hard-copy transfer documentation — commonly referred to as “casuals” in TSC parlance.
Even where a teacher is retained at the same institution but simply moved from the primary to the junior school section, the Head of Institution is still required to formally exit them from the primary school register and submit an Entry Report for the Junior School, ensuring accurate record-keeping across the system.
Once the exercise concludes at each level, County Directors and the Regional Director for Nairobi are required to forward a comprehensive documentation package to the Director of Staffing at TSC headquarters.
This includes certified copies of academic certificates and transcripts, original deployment letters generated from the official template, declarations from Heads of Institution, and a full list of deployed teachers submitted in an editable Microsoft Excel format sent directly to the Director of Staffing’s official email address.
A summary of the deployments carried out must also be submitted, with the Commission having provided a roadmap to guide directors through each stage of the exercise.
Part of a Bigger Staffing Puzzle
While the deployment of 866 teachers is a welcome development for those affected, it is a small fraction of what TSC says is actually needed to fully staff Junior Schools.
The Commission estimates that approximately 140,000 teachers in total are required nationally to adequately staff Grades 7, 8 and 9 under the CBC structure.
This deployment exercise, therefore, should be understood as one incremental measure within a much larger staffing gap that TSC continues to grapple with as Junior Schools mature and expand.
By tapping into its existing pool of qualified primary school teachers rather than relying solely on new recruitment, TSC is able to address two problems simultaneously: it eases the acute shortage of subject teachers in Junior Schools, while also offering a pathway out of career stagnation for primary teachers who have long held qualifications beyond what their current grading recognised.
Whether this approach will meaningfully dent the teacher shortfall remains to be seen, but for the 866 teachers now awaiting their letters, it marks a tangible and long-overdue step forward.
