New TSC CPG to Reward Teachers Who Excel in Academics and Co-Curricular Activities
Teachers who excel in national examinations, sports, music, drama and science competitions are expected to gain significantly from the proposed new Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), which seek to make performance and demonstrated professional excellence more important in promotions than years spent in a particular job grade.
The revised framework, expected to be unveiled following a high-level engagement between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), is set to reshape how teachers advance through their careers by placing greater emphasis on what they contribute to education rather than how long they have served.
Acting TSC Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei has indicated that teachers’ ability to inject their talents into the curriculum will be an important consideration under the proposed career structure.
This means teachers who go beyond ordinary classroom instruction to nurture learners’ abilities, produce excellent academic results and excel in co-curricular activities could have an advantage when competing for promotions.
The proposed changes represent a significant shift from a system in which years of service and time spent in a particular grade have traditionally featured prominently in career advancement.
Under the new approach, teachers who demonstrate outstanding classroom performance, contribute to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and help learners develop practical skills and talents are expected to be better positioned for promotion.
Those who consistently deliver strong results in national examinations and assessments, coach winning sports teams, lead successful music and drama groups, guide learners to science fair victories and receive professional recognition through awards such as the Wajibika Awards and Teacher of the Year Awards (TOYA) are among those who could benefit from the proposed merit-based system.
The changes are also in line with the government’s broader policy direction on public service management, which increasingly emphasises performance, productivity and measurable results rather than promotions based primarily on seniority.
For teachers, the implications could be far-reaching. The revised guidelines could change what it takes to move to higher grades, making professional achievement, innovation and the ability to produce tangible learning outcomes increasingly important in the competition for available promotion opportunities.
However, the final guidelines and their implementation provisions will determine precisely how these performance indicators will be assessed and how they will influence individual teachers’ career progression.
TSC’s new CPG to change how teachers secure promotions
The proposed revised CPG is expected to introduce a more competitive career progression system in which teachers will need to demonstrate professional excellence to advance beyond the lower common-cadre grades.
Under the proposal presented by the TSC to stakeholders in June 2026, the number of career levels across the teaching service will be reduced from 56 to 43, with different structures for primary schools, junior and senior schools, special needs education institutions, teacher training colleges and curriculum support officers.
One of the central changes is the classification of grades into common-cadre and competitive categories.
Teachers will progress through the common-cadre grades under the applicable requirements, but advancement beyond these levels will depend more heavily on competition and demonstrated merit.
This is expected to reduce reliance on the assumption that teachers who have served the longest should automatically be first in line for promotion.
Instead, the proposed framework seeks to recognise teachers who demonstrate exceptional professional abilities, contribute to school improvement and help learners achieve better outcomes.
For instance, a teacher who has spent several years in the same grade but has consistently demonstrated excellence in classroom instruction, learner mentorship and co-curricular activities could be better positioned to compete for promotion than a colleague whose record does not demonstrate comparable achievements.
Nevertheless, the new approach does not necessarily mean that experience and years of service will become irrelevant.
The final CPG will determine how these factors are considered alongside performance, qualifications, appraisal records and other promotion requirements.
The key distinction is that length of service alone is not expected to carry the same weight in competitive promotions under the proposed framework.
Teachers who excel in sports, music and drama stand to benefit
The proposed changes could particularly benefit teachers who dedicate their time to nurturing learners’ talents beyond conventional classroom teaching.
Under the CBC, schools are expected to identify and develop learners’ abilities in different areas, including sports, performing arts, creativity, innovation and practical problem-solving.
Teachers play a critical role in this process because they identify learners’ strengths, organise training, mentor participants and prepare them for competitions at different levels.
A sports teacher who consistently guides learners to county, regional or national victories, for example, contributes to the school’s development beyond the delivery of the prescribed curriculum.
Similarly, teachers who coach successful music and drama teams, prepare learners for festivals or guide them to outstanding performances in science and innovation competitions demonstrate abilities that could become increasingly important under the proposed merit-based career structure.
Such teachers often spend additional hours training learners, organising rehearsals, developing projects and preparing teams for competitions, sometimes beyond their normal classroom responsibilities.
The proposed CPG seeks to give greater recognition to this type of contribution, particularly where teachers can demonstrate measurable results and sustained professional commitment.
This approach also aligns with the objectives of the competency-based education system, which seeks to identify and nurture individual learner abilities rather than concentrating exclusively on academic examinations.
If the proposed performance criteria are retained in the final guidelines, teachers who invest in these activities could have more opportunities to demonstrate their professional value when competing for promotions.
However, the precise weight attached to sports, music, drama and other co-curricular achievements will depend on the final assessment framework issued by the Commission.
Teachers producing excellent examination results could gain an advantage
Another category expected to benefit from the proposed changes is teachers who consistently produce strong academic results and demonstrate effective classroom practice.
Academic performance remains an important indicator of how teachers support learners in mastering the content, skills and competencies required by the curriculum.
Teachers whose learners perform consistently well in national examinations and assessments could therefore have an opportunity to demonstrate their effectiveness under a system that places greater emphasis on measurable professional achievement.
The proposed framework also recognises the importance of classroom teaching as a distinct career pathway, rather than making administrative appointments the principal route to professional advancement.
This could provide opportunities for outstanding classroom practitioners who prefer teaching to school management but still want to progress to higher professional grades.
However, a performance-based system will need to take account of the circumstances under which teachers work.
Learner outcomes can be influenced by factors beyond an individual teacher’s control, including school resources, class sizes, learner backgrounds, staffing levels and access to instructional materials.
Teachers working in disadvantaged schools may face challenges that their counterparts in well-resourced institutions do not encounter.
For this reason, the success of the proposed CPG will depend partly on whether the TSC develops fair and transparent criteria for measuring performance across different school environments.
The assessment framework should recognise the quality of teaching, learner progress, professional commitment and the context in which teachers operate, rather than relying exclusively on examination scores.
Such safeguards would help ensure that the pursuit of excellent results does not disadvantage teachers working under difficult conditions.
Wajibika and TOYA award winners could benefit
Teachers who receive professional recognition through the TSC’s awards programmes could also be favourably positioned under the proposed framework.
The Wajibika Awards recognise aspects of professional accountability and performance, including excellence associated with the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) process.
The Teacher of the Year Awards, commonly known as TOYA, recognise outstanding teachers and their contributions to the education sector.
Under the proposed merit-based approach, such recognition could help demonstrate a teacher’s commitment to professional standards, effective classroom practice and improved learner outcomes.
Teachers who receive these awards may therefore have evidence of achievement that could strengthen their competitiveness when applying for promotion.
The recognition of professional excellence could also encourage more teachers to take appraisal, professional development, learner mentorship and school improvement initiatives seriously.
Rather than viewing TPAD as a routine administrative requirement, teachers may increasingly regard it as an opportunity to document their work, demonstrate their progress and provide evidence of their contribution to education.
However, winning a Wajibika or TOYA award should not be interpreted as an automatic promotion unless the final CPG explicitly provides for such treatment.
The awards are expected to serve as indicators of achievement within the proposed performance-oriented framework, subject to the final rules.
The Commission will need to clarify how awards, appraisal records and other forms of professional recognition will be incorporated into promotion scores.
Government policy also favours performance and productivity
The proposed shift in teachers’ career progression is consistent with the government’s wider push to make performance and productivity central to the management of public servants.
On May 11, 2026, Public Service Commission (PSC) Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Paul Famba emphasised the importance of mainstreaming performance and productivity during the opening of a five-day training at Commission House in Nairobi.
Famba said productivity mainstreaming was essential to embedding a culture of high performance throughout public service institutions.
He stressed that public servants and institutions needed to demonstrate commitment to efficiency, accountability and measurable results in delivering services to citizens.
He also indicated that the era of promotions without clear evidence of performance and productivity was coming to an end.
The position reinforces the government’s broader policy direction of linking career progression to demonstrable contribution rather than relying primarily on the passage of time.
For the teaching profession, the proposed CPG could provide a way of translating this policy direction into a framework tailored to the responsibilities of teachers.
Teaching performance is not limited to examination results. It also includes curriculum delivery, learner development, professional conduct, innovation, mentorship and contributions to the wider school community.
The proposed guidelines could therefore encourage teachers to demonstrate a broader range of professional achievements when competing for higher grades.
The challenge will be to ensure that the new system rewards genuine excellence while maintaining fairness, transparency and equal opportunities across the teaching service.
CBC makes teachers’ talents increasingly important
The proposed emphasis on performance and talent is closely connected to the philosophy of the Competency-Based Curriculum, which seeks to develop learners’ abilities through practical experiences, creativity and the application of knowledge.
Under this approach, teachers are expected to do more than deliver lessons and prepare learners for examinations.
They also help learners identify their strengths, develop practical skills, work collaboratively and apply knowledge to real-life challenges.
Teachers who excel in music, drama, sports, science fairs and other talent-based activities contribute directly to these objectives.
A teacher who helps learners develop a successful innovation project, for instance, supports creativity and problem-solving. A teacher who trains a school team for a major sporting competition contributes to physical development, teamwork and discipline.
Likewise, teachers who nurture music and drama talent help learners develop confidence, communication skills and artistic expression.
Recognising these achievements in career progression could encourage teachers to invest more time and effort in the broader goals of competency-based education.
It could also strengthen the professional standing of teachers whose contributions are not always reflected in conventional examination results.
The new framework is therefore expected to place greater emphasis on the teacher’s overall contribution to learning and school development.
Concerns over fairness and access to promotion
Despite the potential benefits, the proposed performance-based approach could raise concerns among teachers who have relied on years of service and experience as important considerations in career advancement.
Teachers who have served for long periods without receiving promotions may question how their experience will be treated under the new structure.
Others may be concerned that access to awards, competitions and other opportunities to demonstrate talent varies considerably between schools.
A teacher working in a well-equipped institution with strong co-curricular programmes may have more opportunities to guide learners to national competitions than one working in a school with limited facilities.
Similarly, teachers handling subjects or classes with fewer opportunities for public recognition may find it harder to build the same visible record of achievement.
These concerns make it important for the TSC to establish clear, objective and accessible performance indicators.
The Commission will also need to explain how teachers can demonstrate excellence in different subject areas and school settings, including through lesson delivery, learner progress, inclusive education, mentorship and other professional contributions.
Transparent scoring systems and clear procedures for reviewing promotion decisions would help build confidence in the new framework.
Ultimately, the aim should be to encourage professional excellence without creating a system in which teachers’ advancement depends on opportunities that are unevenly distributed across schools.
TSC and SRC engagement to determine final guidelines
The anticipated high-level engagement between the TSC and SRC is expected to be an important step in finalising the proposed CPG and determining the implications of the new grading structure.
President William Ruto said during the World Teachers’ Day celebrations on October 5, 2026, that the revised guidelines would be released within two weeks after receiving an update on the process from SRC Chairman Sammy Chepkwony.
That commitment heightened expectations among teachers, particularly those who have waited for years for changes to the existing career structure.
The proposed guidelines are expected to be integrated with the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement in July 2027, when teachers are due for a salary increment under the agreement.
The job evaluation will be important in determining the relative value of the proposed grades and the associated remuneration implications.
However, the precise date for publication, the final promotion criteria and the approved salary arrangements should be confirmed through official communication from the relevant commissions.
Teachers will be looking for clarity on how their existing grades will map onto the new structure, what requirements they must meet to progress and how professional performance will be measured.
The biggest change teachers should watch for is the proposed shift from promotion based largely on time and seniority towards a system that gives greater weight to demonstrated performance, professional excellence and talent development.
If the proposal is retained in the final guidelines, teachers who consistently produce strong learning outcomes, nurture talent in sports, music and drama, guide learners in science and innovation, and earn recognition through professional awards could be better positioned to compete for higher grades.
For the TSC, the challenge will be to turn that ambition into a fair and transparent system that rewards genuine achievement while giving teachers across all school environments a meaningful opportunity to advance.