50,000 teachers will be promoted this financial year, President William Ruto has announced.
This would make it the largest teacher promotion exercise in a single year in Kenya.
The President said the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had already advertised 34,016 promotion opportunities, but directed that the number be increased to 50,000.
“The Government will provide additional funding to make this possible,” he pointed out.
Speaking during World Teachers’ Day celebrations at Kasarani Gymnasium in Nairobi on Monday, President Ruto stated that the Government had doubled the teacher promotion budget from KSh1 billion to KSh2 billion.
Since the President took office in 2022, 126,462 teachers have been promoted, more than under any previous administration.
Among those present at the event were Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba, Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Chair Collins Oyuu, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Chair Omboko Milemba, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chair Jamleck Muturi and TSC Acting CEO Evaleen Mitei.
At the same time, President Ruto said a review of new career progression guidelines had been finalised by the TSC and teachers’ unions and was awaiting approval by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
The President pointed out that investment in education had increased from KSh526 billion in 2021/22 to KSh702 billion in 2025/26 and has now topped KSh784.5 billion, making education the largest allocation in the national budget.
He said the increased investment was aimed at strengthening the education system and improving teachers’ welfare, professional growth and working conditions.
He pointed out that the Government had recruited 100,000 teachers in the past four years, with another 20,000 expected to join by December 2026, the largest expansion of the teaching workforce in our nation’s history.
Further, the President said the Government had provided KSh4.9 billion to move 20,000 contract teachers, who have served a two-year internship, to permanent and pensionable terms in January 2027.
On professional development, he noted that more than 220,000 teachers had been re-tooled for Competency-Based Education, while KSh952 million had been provided for teacher capacity development.
President Ruto explained that the Government had built more than 23,000 classrooms and was equipping 1,600 laboratories to support science and the Senior School Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics pathway.
On remuneration, the President explained that the first phase of salary increases under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement was paid last year and the second phase in July 2026.
He said this year’s budget had provided a further KSh8.1 billion to keep the implementation of the agreement on schedule.
The Government had also strengthened teachers’ medical cover under the Social Health Authority (SHA), doubling inpatient access from 7 per cent to 14 per cent.
He said the number of facilities where teachers can access inpatient care had also increased from 900 to 3,871.
“Today, your medical scheme runs under the SHA as part of our drive towards universal healthcare. By the end of September 2026, it had covered 415,608 teachers and 884,392 dependants,” he said.
On home ownership, President Ruto pointed out that 20 per cent of affordable homes had been reserved for teachers under an agreement signed in September 2025 between the Affordable Housing Board, KNUT and KUPPET.
The board, he said, was working with the TSC on a salary check-off system that would allow teachers to pay for their homes directly.
On retirement benefits, President Ruto said teachers should receive their pension promptly and with dignity after completing their service.
He said the Pension Management Information System, whose rollout began on 1 July, 2026, was being used to speed up pension processing, with teachers’ records already being uploaded.
“The agencies responsible have assured me that within three months, we will be able to pay a teacher’s benefits within 10 days of retirement,” he said.
The President also said the Government had released school capitation before the start of every term this year, amounting to KSh86.1 billion.
On his part, Mr Oyuu of KNUT commended President Ruto’s track record in the education sector, citing the employment of more than 100,000 teachers.
“On matters of education, you have exceeded expectations. With this trend, your leadership will turn around the education sector as it has done in the short time we have witnessed,” he said.
Mr Milemba of KUPPET, who is the MP for Emuhaya, noted that if the Government had stuck to the old model of hiring 5,000 teachers a year, it would have taken 25 years to hire over 120,000 teachers.
Mr Muturi, the TSC chairman, pointed out that President Ruto is the first since 1963 to join teachers in marking the World Teachers’ Day.
Ms Mitei, the TSC CEO, noted that the Government has stood with teachers and gone the extra mile in advancing their interests.
Meanwhile, Mr Ogamba called on university lecturers to return to work, saying the Government is committed to safeguarding their interests.
He asked them not to interrupt the students’ programme when the Government has demonstrated commitment to addressing their issues.
He noted that the Government has paid all arrears under the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA).
“It is in this spirit that we are committed to timely negotiations and the conclusion of all future CBAs, including the 2025-2029 one,” he said.
