The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has kicked off final payroll activities that will see the February payroll is computed and concluded to allow early payment of teachers salaries.
According to sources the payroll will close by end of business on Tuesday to allow crediting of salaries into teachers accounts by Thursday this week.
According to a circular by Head of Public Service, Mr Felix Koskei, dated 24th June 2025, all Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and County Governments must process and finalize their monthly payrolls by the 15th of every month.
The Commission sources indicate that TSC will pay some pending bills which includes effecting automatic promotion for teachers employed three years ago inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), hardship allowance for teachers transferred to hardship zones, arrears for promoted and reinstated teachers among others.
The escalation of TPay activities is to allow teachers to receive early February salaries as schools are set to break for half term early next week.
According to Ministry circular outlining this year school calendar of activities, all schools will break for ‘half term’ on Tuesday 24th February and resume on Monday 2nd March 2026.
However secondary schools are likely to start their mid term break early at the end of this week.
Sources say a total of 9,159 teachers recently recruited as replacements have not been captured and will have to wait longer before they can start getting paid.
The teachers who are now serving a six month probation before they can be converted to pnp reported to schools early February.
“Note that the effective date of your appointment will be the date you report for duty. Your salary will be Ksh 300,336 p.a on the T-Scale 5 (Ksh 300,336 p.a to Ksh 379,380 p.a). You will also be entitled to Automatic House Allowance, Commuter Allowance and Hardship Allowance (where applicable),” reads an employment letter of a P1 teachers sent in a school in Kilifi.
The teachers, employed on permanent and pensionable terms, will receive their first pay after working for three months.
Beside salaries teachers are also posed to be paid their invigilation dues by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec).
The payments are likely to start sometime this week. CS Education, Julius Ogamba, asked teachers for their patience as it works to process payment.
He said the delays in disbursement of allowances have arisen from budgetary and cash flow constraints currently affecting the release of funds.
“We wish to assure all affected professionals that payment remains a priority. The Ministry, in collaboration with the National Treasury is actively working to resolve the matter and expedite the release of the requisite funds within the shortest time possible,” said Ogamba.
Each year Knec contracts professionals who assist in the national exercise. They include teachers, drivers and security personnel.
There were a total of 77,600 teachers who worked as centre managers, supervisors and invigilators in the 2025 national exams and assessments.
Teachers manned the exams and assessments which included the Grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), Grade 9 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and the form four Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
AMOUNT TEACHERS WILL EARN FOR ADMINISTERING THE NATIONAL TESTS
KPSEA INVIGILATORS
sh 550 per day for 3 days equals sh 1,680
KJSEA INVIGILATORS
sh 550 per day for 6 days equals sh 3,300
KPSEA & KJSEA SUPERVISORS
sh 680 per day for 6 days equals sh 4,080
KCSE SUPERVISORS
sh 680 per day for 16 days equals sh 10,880
KCSE INVIGILATORS
sh 550 per day for 16 days equals sh 8,800
CENTRE MANAGERS
sh 550 per day for KPSEA and KJSEA and KCSE
However a section of teachers will have new National Social Security Fund (NSSF) deduction in their February payslips.
Currently teachers like other employees contribute sh. 360 each month towards NSSF and the employer is also required to remit the same amount to the kitty.
NSSF is planning to raise this amount in February. The law has set a fixed base of sh 6,000 for all public servants which include TSC teachers. NSSF takes 6% of this base i.e 6% of sh 6,000 = sh 360.
The employer TSC also remit same sh 360. So in total a teacher gets sh 720 in NSSF contribution each month.
However NSSF rates are expected to rise with the base moving from sh 6,000 to sh 9,000 or higher.
If the base becomes sh 9,000: 6% of sh 9,000 = sh 540. This means teachers may start paying around sh 540 each month, while TSC contributes the same.
The deduction will be the same for all teachers, largely because it depends on the legal base, and not individual salaries.
The new deduction will affect not only teachers but millions of employees once this fourth and final phase of pension contribution takes effect.
