The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will start paying special duty allowances commonly known as acting allowance to a total of 99,000 teachers currently serving as administrators in acting capacity.
The payment which will start after the July budget comes after Parliament approved a Bill granting acting allowances to the teachers serving in administrative roles, while capping the acting period at a minimum of thirty days and a maximum of six months.
A teacher can only act in a position he or she is eligible for appointment. For example a teacher can only act as a headteacher if he or she meets the requirements for appointment as a headteacher.
“A teacher appointed shall only act in one position at a time. A teacher appointed in an acting capacity shall be entitled to a special duty allowance,” the Bill reads.
“The Commission shall, in the absence of qualified teachers, pay special duty allowance to teachers appointed to perform administrative duties which are not commensurate to the teaching grades or who are stationed in arid and semi-arid lands.”
This new development puts pressure on TSC to confirm teachers on administrative roles and in acting capacity whenever promotions are advertised.
The Teachers Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2024, sponsored by Mandera South MP Abdul Haro, mandates that teachers appointed to acting positions, including principals, deputy headteachers and heads of departments, receive all allowances attached to those roles.
After six months, the position must be substantively filled, and the acting teacher qualifies for confirmation.
The bill states that teachers who are not qualified for a position should not be appointed to act.
The legislation affects approximately 99,000 teachers in various acting capacities, including over 3,300 school heads and deputies who have been serving without adequate compensation.
Lawmakers moved to address what they described as exploitation, noting that prolonged acting appointments without remuneration had eroded motivation and weakened succession planning in school leadership .
The Bill formalizes various allowances including house, commuter, hardship, special duty, responsibility and transfer allowances, with mandatory consultation between TSC and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on remuneration structures.
However the bill stated that the amount of allowances to paid shall be determined by TSC in consultation with Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Section 11 of No 20 of the TSC Act, 2012 read: “The Commission (TSC) in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission shall facilitate payment of allowances to teachers in the manner set out in the Fourth Schedule”
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Collins Oyuu had voiced his support for the Bill, saying that it is in the interest of teachers.
“It’s popular labour practice that one shouldn’t act for more than six months. We have many teachers in acting capacity who cannot demand an acting allowance. The TSC is in charge of promotions but it is sub-county directors who appoint teachers in acting roles,” said Mr Oyuu.
He said TSC circumvents the law by failing to issue appointment letters for teachers in acting roles but rather referring to them as “assignment of duties”.
“It has been decided that you be assigned duties of a head teacher with effect from… Please note that this assignment is temporary,” read one deployment letter issued to a C4 deputy headteacher which made no reference to monetary compensation.
The allowances that teachers qualify for include house allowance, commuter allowance and leave allowance.
Others include hardship allowance for those deployed to schools in places gazetted as hardship areas, leave and responsibility allowances.
When Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) met TSC in April 2024, the parties did not agree when the issue of payment for teachers in acting capacity first came up.
TSC did not agree on the compensation of teachers on acting appointments saying doing so will be unlawful.
“Kuppet held that acting administrators deserve acting and special duty allowances as provided under the Code of Regulations for Teachers. The commission claimed that acting positions were abolished by SRC circulars, and therefore were not compensable. Kuppet maintains that the commission is doubly violating the law by using acting administrators and not compensating them,” the union said in a statement after the retreat.
