The race for the 20,000 teaching positions advertised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will heavily favour applicants with internship experience, with those who have completed at least 12 months set to collect the highest possible marks for service.
The commission's recruitment formula gives experience the biggest share of the score, meaning teachers who have spent a full year or more as interns in one sub-county could be better placed than applicants with similar qualifications but no internship background.
Teachers who have served continuously for at least 12 months in the same sub-county will be awarded 70 marks for experience and service. Those whose internship lasted less than 12 months will receive 50 marks under the same category.
The TSC advertised 20,000 post-primary teaching positions on July 28, 2026, in a countrywide recruitment exercise intended to boost the number of teachers in junior schools. The commission also announced 34,016 promotion slots for teachers already employed, bringing the total number of opportunities announced to 54,016.
The recruitment rules were signed by acting TSC chief executive officer Evaleen Mitei and set out how candidates will be ranked during the selection process.
Besides internship service, the commission will reward applicants according to when they qualified as teachers. Those who qualified in 2010 or earlier will receive the full 20 marks available under this category.
The marks will reduce by one point for each year after 2010. This means candidates who qualified in 2011 will get 19 marks, while those who completed their qualification in 2012 and 2013 will receive 18 and 17 marks respectively.
Teachers who qualified in 2026 will receive four marks.
The TSC clarified that the relevant year will be the time when an applicant satisfactorily met the requirements to qualify as a teacher under its policies. It will not necessarily be the year printed on the applicant's certificate.
Age will also affect the final score. Candidates aged 50 years and above will receive seven marks, while those aged between 45 and 49 will get five. Applicants aged 44 years and below will receive three marks.
Academic and professional qualifications will account for a maximum of three marks.
For graduate teachers holding a Bachelor qualification, a Bachelor of Education degree, or a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree together with a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, a First Class honours degree will attract three marks. A Second Class degree will earn two marks, while a Pass will receive one mark.
Diploma holders will also have three marks available in the qualifications category. Those with a Distinction will receive three marks, candidates with a Credit will get two and those with a Pass will receive one.
The commission will give preference to applicants who have not previously held a permanent and pensionable position under TSC.
Local candidates will also have an advantage. Applicants originating from the sub-county in which a vacancy has been declared will be considered first, followed by eligible candidates from elsewhere within the county.
The high number of marks assigned to experience makes internship performance a key part of the recruitment exercise. Teachers who have completed longer internship periods therefore enter the selection process with a sizeable head start.
Mitei directed recruitment teams to follow a transparent and accountable process. Selection panels must check the academic, professional and other documents presented by candidates before settling on those to be selected.
Applicants must also meet the legal requirement of being registered teachers under Section 23(1) of the Teachers Service Commission Act.
Those invited to interviews must carry their original documents and clear copies. These include national identification cards, teacher registration certificates, academic certificates and transcripts, KCSE and KCPE certificates and school leaving certificates.
Candidates who sat national examinations more than once must submit certificates for every attempt. Applicants whose names are not identical across their documents must provide affidavits explaining the differences.
The TSC has further allocated at least five per cent of the available vacancies to teachers with disabilities. The commission has prepared separate candidate lists, scoring guides and checklists for the recruitment of this group.
For teachers with disabilities, the scoring arrangement remains broadly similar. Academic and professional qualifications account for three marks, age seven marks, the period since qualification 20 marks and experience 70 marks, giving candidates a possible total of 100 marks.
The recruitment guidelines also contain separate checklists for boards of management and TSC officials.
Officials involved in the process will be required to sign minutes showing how many candidates were shortlisted from the system-generated merit list and the criteria applied in arriving at the selections.