The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has given less consideration to teachers academic and professional certificates in the recent advertised teacher promotions.
In the scoresheet it released this week to guide the promotion exercise, TSC has awarded a maximum of 3 out of 100 marks to various academic and professional certificates held by teachers.
The Commission has awarded 3 marks to PhD holders, 2 marks to Masters holders, 1 mark to Degree holder and zero marks to those with Diplomas a clear indicator of how worthless they are to the Commission.
The TSC move to dismiss teachers academic certificates has irked many teachers who had joined colleges and universities with the hope of securing promotion.
Previously the Commission indicated that teachers promotion will no longer be pegged on academic certificates but performance.
This is after it abandoned the Schemes of Service and adopted the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teacher promotions.
TSC stated that teachers performance will be key in future promotions and will be informed by the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD), Teacher Professional Development (TPD) among other tools.
This week the Commission has declared 21,313 promotion vacancies for teachers to apply online.
The Commission in an advert has given teachers two weeks to apply for the slots that covers teachers from job group C1 to D4.
According to TSC the applications must be submitted by the midnight of Monday, 25th August 2025.
Interested candidates, who meet the required qualifications can submit their applications online through the TSC promotion portal.
In the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2025 – 2029 it signed with teachers unions, TSC pledged to promote teachers across all cadres at a cost of Sh1 Billion this financial year.
According to the promotion guidelines it released, teachers will be considered based on year of service in current grade and their age.
| Age of Teacher | Marks |
| 57 and above | 30 |
| 52 to 56 years | 25 |
| 47 to 51years | 20 |
| 42 to 46 years | 15 |
| 41 years and below | 10 |
Those who have served seven years in same job group will be awarded 50 marks in the scoresheet.
Six, five, four and three years will score 40, 30, 20 and 10 marks respectively according to the promotion scoresheet it released.
Teachers aged fifty seven years and above will be awarded 30 marks. Those aged fifty two to fifty six will get 25 marks.
Tutors aged forty seven to fifty one have been awarded 20 marks while those aged forty two to forty six will score 15 marks.
Click here to download TSC circular guide and scoresheet for promotion of teachers 2025-2026 (pdf)
| S/ No. | Advert No. | Advert Name | TSC Scale | Grade | Posts |
| 1 | 3/2025 | Chief principal – Regular | D5 | 15 | 99 |
| 2 | 4/2025 | Chief principal – TTC | D5 | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | 5/2025 | Senior Principal – Regular | D4 | 14 | 490 |
| 4 | 6/2025 | Senior Principal – TTC | D4 | 14 | 6 |
| 5 | 7/2025 | Principal – Regular | D3 | 13 | 674 |
| 6 | 8/2025 | Principal – SNE | D3 | 12 | 2 |
| 7 | 9/2025 | Deputy Principal II – Regular | D2 | 12 | 971 |
| 8 | 10/2025 | Deputy Principal II – TTC | D2 | 12 | 15 |
| 9 | 11/2025 | Deputy Principal II – SNE | D2 | 12 | 4 |
| 10 | 12/2025 | Senior Lecturer I – TTC | D2 | 12 | 23 |
| 11 | 13/2025 | Senior Curriculum Support Officer | D2 | 12 | 19 |
| 12 | 14/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer I | D1 | 11 | 56 |
| 13 | 15/2025 | Deputy Principal III – Regular | D1 | 11 | 847 |
| 14 | 16/2025 | Senior Head Teacher – Regular | D1 | 11 | 1,400 |
| 15 | 17/2025 | Senior Head Teacher – SNE | D1 | 11 | 14 |
| 16 | 18/2025 | Senior Lecturer II – TTC | D1 | 11 | 44 |
| 17 | 19/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer II – Regular | C5 | 10 | 111 |
| 18 | 20/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer II – SNE | C5 | 10 | 134 |
| 19 | 21/2025 | Head-Teacher – Regular | C5 | 10 | 1,872 |
| 20 | 22/2025 | Senior Lecturer III – TTC | C5 | 10 | 43 |
| 21 | 23/2025 | Senior Master III – Regular | C5 | 10 | 737 |
| 22 | 24/2025 | Deputy Head-Teacher II – Regular | C4 | 9 | 3,547 |
| 23 | 25/2025 | Deputy Head-Teacher II – SNE | C4 | 9 | 19 |
| 24 | 26/2025 | Senior Lecturer IV – TTC | C4 | 9 | 59 |
| 25 | 27/2025 | Senior Master IV – Regular | C4 | 9 | 850 |
| 26 | 28/2025 | Senior Master IV – SNE | C4 | 9 | 3 |
| 27 | 29/2025 | Lecturer I – TTC | C3 | 8 | 18 |
| 28 | 30/2025 | Secondary Teacher I – (Diploma) Regular | C3 | 8 | 994 |
| 29 | 31/2025 | Senior Teacher I – Regular | C3 | 8 | 3,244 |
| 30 | 32/2025 | Senior Teacher I – SNE | C3 | 8 | 141 |
| 31 | 33/2025 | Senior Teacher II – Regular | C2 | 7 | 4,683 |
| 32 | 34/2025 | Senior Teacher II – SNE | C2 | 7 | 188 |
| TOTAL | 21,313 | ||||
However a teacher must have served for at least three years in current job group for them to be considered except those in ASAL areas who will be promoted on affirmative action.
Click here to download TSC circular guide and scoresheet for promotion of teachers 2025-2026 (pdf)
Teachers who have served as administrators in acting capacity will be given big consideration if they produce evidence of acting.
| No. of years as administrator | Marks |
| 7 years and above | 25 |
| 6 Years | 22 |
| 5 Years | 18 |
| 4 Years | 14 |
| 3 Years | 10 |
| 2 Years | 6 |
| 6 months -Below 1 year | 2 |
Primary school teachers who have stagnated in job group C1 for years have been awarded 4,683 promotion slots while those who have stagnated in C2 have gotten 3,244 slots.