President William Ruto has announced that 50,000 teachers will be promoted this financial year, in what he described as 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,” President Ruto said.
He made the announcement during World Teachers’ Day celebrations at Kasarani Gymnasium in Nairobi, where he outlined a series of measures aimed at improving teachers’ professional growth, welfare and working conditions.
Teacher Promotion Budget Doubled
President Ruto said the Government had doubled the teacher promotion budget from KSh1 billion to KSh2 billion.
He said 126,462 teachers had been promoted since he took office in 2022, describing the figure as higher than under any previous administration.
The President also said the review of new career progression guidelines had been finalised by the TSC and teachers’ unions.
The guidelines are now awaiting approval by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Government Expands Education Investment
President Ruto said government investment in education had increased from KSh526 billion in 2021/22 to KSh702 billion in 2025/26, and had now exceeded KSh784.5 billion.
He said education had consequently become the largest allocation in the national budget.
According to the President, the increased investment is intended to strengthen the education system while improving teachers’ welfare, professional development and working conditions.
President Ruto said the Government had recruited 100,000 teachers over the past four years, with another 20,000 expected to join by December 2026.
He described the expansion as the largest growth of Kenya’s teaching workforce in the country’s history.
The Government has also allocated KSh4.9 billion to move 20,000 contract teachers who have completed a two-year internship to permanent and pensionable terms in January 2027.
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On professional development, President Ruto said more than 220,000 teachers had been re-tooled for Competency-Based Education (CBE).
He added that KSh952 million had been allocated for teacher capacity development.
The Government has also constructed more than 23,000 classrooms and is equipping 1,600 laboratories to support science education and the Senior School Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pathway.
President Ruto said the first phase of salary increases under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was implemented last year, while the second phase was implemented in July 2026.
He said the 2026/27 budget had allocated a further KSh8.1 billion to keep implementation of the agreement on schedule.
The President said the Government had also strengthened teachers’ medical cover under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
He said inpatient access had been doubled from 7 per cent to 14 per cent, while the number of facilities where teachers can access inpatient care had increased from about 900 to 3,871.
By the end of September 2026, President Ruto said the medical scheme had covered 415,608 teachers and 884,392 dependants.
“Today, your medical scheme runs under the SHA as part of our drive towards universal healthcare,” he said.
President Ruto also said 20 per cent of affordable homes had been reserved for teachers under an agreement signed in September 2025 between the Affordable Housing Board, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
He said the board was working with the TSC on a salary check-off system that would allow teachers to make payments for their homes directly from their salaries.
Government Promises Faster Pension Payments
The President said teachers should receive their retirement benefits promptly and with dignity after completing their service.
He said the Pension Management Information System, whose rollout began on July 1, 2026, was being used to speed up pension processing, with teachers’ records already being uploaded.
President Ruto said agencies responsible for the process had assured him that teachers would eventually receive their retirement benefits within 10 days of retirement.
“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 beginning of every term during the year.
The total amount released, he said, stood at KSh86.1 billion.
The announcement comes as the Government continues to review education financing and seek ways to strengthen support for schools and teachers.
KNUT Chair Collins Oyuu commended President Ruto’s record in the education sector, particularly the employment of more than 100,000 teachers.
“On matters of education, you have exceeded expectations,” Oyuu said.
KUPPET Chair and Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba said the scale of recruitment under the current administration represented a significant departure from the previous pace of hiring teachers.
He said that if the Government had maintained an annual recruitment rate of 5,000 teachers, it would have taken 25 years to recruit more than 120,000 teachers.
TSC Chair Jamleck Muturi said President Ruto was the first president since independence to join teachers in marking World Teachers’ Day.
TSC Acting CEO Evaleen Mitei said the Government had continued to support teachers and advance their interests.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba also called on university lecturers to return to work, saying the Government remained committed to addressing their concerns.
Ogamba said the Government had paid all arrears under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements.
“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.
The World Teachers’ Day celebrations brought together government officials, education sector leaders, teachers’ unions and representatives of the Teachers Service Commission as the Government outlined its plans for teacher promotions, recruitment, professional development and welfare.
