A lot of time is spent by teachers on the streets throughout the years in protest of the government’s low salary. They were fortunate because the Kenyan National Union of Teachers (KNUT) fought hard but won the right to increase teachers’ salary. The Salary and Remuneration Commission decided to raise salaries in the following three stages.
The slogans of “solidarity forever for the union makes us strong” that the teachers have occasionally used in the streets will finally come to an end with the implementation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
New TSC salaries and grading system
Here is the breakdown of the new TSC salaries and grading system for teachers.
TSC new grading system.
Some job groups were abolished while others were merged as a result of the current TSC teacher upgrade. The grade previously known as P1, which was under Job Group G, was eliminated and replaced with Grade B5 under the new system of grading teachers. For all primary school teachers, this grade has been recognized as the new entry grade.
The other grades that followed were re-structured and re-named as follows:
- J to C1
- K to C2
- L to C3
- M to C4
- N to C5
Apart from job groups J to N, there was another rank that belonged to the higher band which was designated as P, Q and R. These three were later renamed to:
- P to D1
- Q to D2
- R to D3
The commission granted the Kenyan National Union of Teachers’ request for additional job groups S and T. The two groups received the new letter grades of D4 and D5, respectively. The revised grading scale now places chief principals in category D5.
Teachers’ TSC designation code
A new grading system was implemented following the job evaluation exercise carried out by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. The designation codes for each category are listed below. The grading system gave teachers access to new job groups.
- Grade B5 (T-Scale 5) – Primary Teacher II
- Grade C1(T-Scale 6) – Primary Teacher I, Secondary teacher II, and lecturer III
- Grade C2 (T-Scale 7) – Secondary teacher II, Senior Teacher II, Lecturer II, and Special Need Education Educator (for primary schools)
- Grade C3 (T-Scale 8) – Secondary teacher I, Special Need Education Teacher I (for primary schools), Lecturer I, Senior Teacher I, and Special Need Education Educator II (for secondary schools)
- GradeC4 (T-Scale 9) – Senior Master IV, Special Need Education Senior Teacher (for primary schools), Senior Lecturer IV, Deputy Head teacher II and Special Need Education Teacher I (for secondary schools)
- GradeC5 (T-Scale 10) – Senior Master III, Deputy Principal IV, Senior Lecturer III, Deputy Head Teacher, Head Educator, and Curriculum Support Officer II.
- Grade D1(T-Scale 11) – Deputy Principal III, Senior Master II, Senior Lecturer II, Curriculum Support Officer I, and Senior Head Educator.
- Grade D2 (T-Scale 12) – Senior Master I and Deputy Principal II
- Grade D3 (T-Scale 13) – Deputy Principal I and Principals
- Grade D4 (T-Scale 14) – Senior Principals
- Grade D5 (T-Scale 15) – Chief Principals
TSC’s revised teacher salary scale
The Teachers Service Commission will list the salary increases for various teachers according to their job groups for both primary and secondary school tutors, according to the TSC salary circular that was just released. The new pay scale for Kenyan teachers will apply to the job groups H, J, K, L, M, and N.
According to the TSC CBA implementation schedule, the three-phase cycle has been in effect since the Collective Bargaining Agreement was signed in 2016 and is currently in its third phase.
Along with extending the TSC compensation scale for teachers in scales 13, 12, and 9, the commission also updated some of the allowances, including commuter, hardship, and annual leave. However, there will be no changes to any of the other subsidies.
New salary structure for teachers in Kenya
- Chief Principal – Ksh. 165, 089 (minimum), and Ksh. 200, 928 (maximum)
- Senior Principal – Ksh. 143,748 (minimum) Ksh. 174,270 (maximum)
- Principal GAT I – Ksh. 129,527 (minimum) Ksh. 155,894 (maximum)
- Principal GAT II – Ksh. 80,190 (minimum) Ksh. 97,290 (maximum)
- Senior GAT – Ksh. 69,590 (minimum) Ksh. 83,840 (maximum)
- GAT I – Ksh. 61,910 (minimum) Ksh. 71,880 (maximum)
- GAT II – Ksh. 46,020 (minimum) Ksh. 56,590 (maximum)
- GAT III – Ksh. 34,662 (minimum) Ksh. 39,918 (maximum)
- ATS IV – Ksh. 28,323 (minimum) Ksh. 33,662 (maximum)
- P1 – Ksh. 25,692 (minimum) Ksh. 30,304 (maximum)