Inside New TSC Salary Structure for Kenyan Teachers, Breakdown for Grades
- The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) signed the 2025 to 2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with unions in July
- As part of the phased implementation, all teaching job groups will see modifications to their minimum and maximum basic salaries
- Kenyan teachers welcomed the move to raise their pay, but some told TUKO.co.ke that the increment was a drop in the ocean
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TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting and offers deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announced the newly negotiated 2025 to 2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which resulted in pay increases for teachers.
Source: Getty Images
The CBA will be implemented in four phases, offering optimism to thousands of educators who have long pushed for better pay and working conditions.
All teaching job groups, from B5 to D5, will see modifications to their minimum and maximum basic salaries as part of the progressive implementation of the salary adjustment over four fiscal years.
Classroom teachers, senior teachers, deputy headteachers, headteachers, principals, and education administrators are among the cadres getting salary increments.
What did TSC say?
TSC revealed that the CBA would cost the government KSh 33.75 billion over four years.
"We signed a four-year, KSh 33,753,372,108 net CBA with all teacher unions today as a result of the government's investment in the teaching profession.
Effective July 1, 2025, the first phase of the new CBA will cost KSh 8.4 billion in pay and benefits, of which over KSh 1.2 billion will come from the employer's contribution to the teacher's pension plan and other mandatory deductions," TSC stated.
TSC noted that the commission gave its various staff cadres a pay increase of up to 29.5% in order to address the issues brought up by teachers through their unions.
"This award is geared towards bridging the wage gap between the highest and lowest paid teachers in the public service," it stated.
What is the new salary structure for teachers?
| Grade | TSC scale | Minimum basic salary | Maximum basic salary |
| B5 | 5 | KSh 28,260 | KSh 37,100 |
| C1 | 6 | KSh 35,336 | KSh 47,621 |
| C2 | 7 | KSh 41,420 | KSh 57,230 |
| C3 | 8 | KSh 49,781 | KSh 66,233 |
| C4 | 9 | KSh 58,585 | KSh 77,120 |
| C5 | 10 | KSh 69,745 | KSh 96,130 |
| D1 | 11 | KSh 80,984 | KSh 99,272 |
| D2 | 12 | KSh 95,721 | KSh 116,012 |
| D3 | 13 | KSh 109,224 | KSh 133,347 |
| D4 | 14 | KSh 121,789 | KSh 150,675 |
| D5 | 15 | KSh 135,321 | KSh 167,415 |
What are the new allowances?
The commission also increased the rates for baggage allowances, while other allowances remained unchanged.
Below are the rates:
| Grade | TSC scale | Rate in KSh per kilometre |
| B5 | 5 | 43 |
| C1 | 6 | 43 |
| C2 | 7 | 55 |
| C3 | 8 | 55 |
| C4 | 9 | 55 |
| C5 | 10 | 55 |
| D1 | 11 | 68 |
| D2 | 12 | 68 |
| D3 | 13 | 68 |
| D4 | 14 | 68 |
| D5 | 15 | 80 |
How did teachers react?
Kenyan teachers welcomed the move to raise their pay, but some argued that the increment was a drop in the ocean.
"Teachers play important roles in the lives of children across the country. We have been neglected for long, and this pay rise is welcome. However, when compared to an MCA, for example, we still earn way less," Lamech Cheruiyot, a teacher in Nandi, told TUKO.co.ke.
Grace Sugut, another teacher, asked the government to introduce a standing allowance for tutors.
"Members of Parliament and the County Assembly are given sitting allowances. Teachers stand in class for long hours, TSC should consider introducing a standing allowance," she told TUKO.co.ke.
Source: Getty Images
What else did TSC and unions agree?
The TSC will hire more teachers in the 2025/2026 fiscal year, at a cost of KSh 2.4 billion.
Under President William Ruto's administration, 76,000 teachers have been hired in two and a half years.
In the current financial year, TSC will also promote teachers at KSh 1 billion in all cadres and retool senior school instructors for KSh 950 million.
Why were secondary teachers aggrieved?
Thousands of secondary school teachers nationwide expressed shock after realising they received as little as KSh 36 in additional compensation, following what they had assumed would be a substantial wage boost.
About 70% of the small pay rise that TSC had approved was allegedly withheld by the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
Many teachers felt it was an insult to injury.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
