President Ruto Announces KSh4 Billion for Teachers' Career Progression and 50,000 Promotions

President William Ruto announced an additional KSh4 billion to support teachers’ career progression and said 50,000 teachers will be promoted in the current financial year during the Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association National Annual General Meeting in Mombasa.

He said the funding will enable implementation of the new Career Progression Guidelines (CPG 2026) that have been approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission after agreement with the Teachers Service Commission and teachers’ unions.

Acting TSC Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei explained that the revised guidelines replace the 2018 version and introduce two distinct pathways – a classroom teaching track and a school administration track – both allowing educators to rise to chief principal based on qualifications and criteria, with differentiated allowances for extra responsibilities.

Mitei added that performance management is now central to improving accountability, citing Performance Contracting and the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) system, and urged school heads to strengthen supervision.

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Collins Oyuu welcomed the two pathways, describing the development as “a big win for teachers”.

Ruto noted that the government has recruited 100,000 teachers over the past four years and that another 20,000 will join in December 2026, calling it the largest expansion of the teaching workforce in the country’s history; he recalled a shortage of 116,000 teachers in 2022 and that previous administrations recruited about 5,000 teachers annually.

He also announced that 20 percent of affordable housing units have been reserved for teachers and that more than 1.3 million teachers and their dependants are covered by the Social Health Authority medical scheme, which now includes 426,000 principal members and 887,000 dependants, access to over 4,000 health facilities, outpatient benefits of KSh150,000 to KSh450,000 and inpatient cover up to KSh3 million, plus maternity, dental, optical, last-expense and overseas treatment.

Ruto directed the Education Ministry and the TSC to review school capitation and submit a report by January next year.

He warned that artificial intelligence will reshape the job market, saying “the world will not pay our children for what they know. It will pay them for what they can do with what they know,” and stressed that “numbers alone do not make a profession.”