Teachers who have spent years managing schools without being formally appointed to senior administrative positions have secured a major victory after a court directed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to pay them allowances for the additional responsibilities they have undertaken.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that the commission cannot continue assigning teachers duties belonging to headteachers, deputy headteachers and other senior administrators without providing the financial benefits attached to those positions.
Justice Jemimah Keli ordered TSC to compensate affected teachers through acting allowances, calculated from the dates they took over the higher responsibilities.
The judgment also brings renewed attention to the plight of educators working in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (Asals) and other hard-to-staff regions, which the court recognised as marginalised areas requiring affirmative action. TSC was directed to make budgetary arrangements for allowances benefiting teachers serving in these locations.
"The respondent's (TSC) conduct constitutes unequal pay for equal work, which is an unfair labour practice. The respondent is ordered to take immediate steps to remedy the unfair labour practice and, where it deploys a teacher to a higher position, pay compensation by way of an acting allowance," said Justice Jemimah Keli.
The ruling presents a financial challenge for the commission, which is already facing a Sh2.2 billion shortfall in funding for acting allowances during the 2026/27 financial year. TSC had previously disclosed that the required funds were not included in its proposed budget.
The dispute arose after 22 teachers moved to court, accusing the commission of allowing them to occupy higher positions for prolonged periods without confirming their appointments, adjusting their job grades or paying them the appropriate allowances.
In their petition, filed on September 2, 2025, the teachers questioned TSC's practice of retaining educators in acting positions for more than six months instead of making substantive appointments.
Some of the petitioners said they had been performing senior administrative duties since 2012, despite remaining in lower job groups and receiving salaries that did not reflect their actual responsibilities.
They told the court that their work involved overseeing the daily running of schools, supervising teaching and non-teaching staff, handling disciplinary matters, managing examinations and ensuring institutions met their administrative obligations.
Despite carrying the workload and accountability expected of senior school managers, the teachers said they were denied the salaries, benefits and opportunities for career advancement associated with the positions they occupied.
They further argued that the prolonged acting arrangements had left them professionally disadvantaged, with no clear path towards confirmation or promotion despite years of service in higher capacities.
One of the petitioners, Antony Barasa Mabonga, welcomed the decision, saying it had given recognition to teachers who had continued serving in demanding administrative roles without receiving formal acknowledgement.
"This is the sound of a profession finding its voice, and a reminder that justice, though it may travel slowly on dusty roads, always arrives.
We now look to TSC and ask them to meet this moment with grace and fully implement this decision,"
said Mabonga.
He added that teachers in remote parts of the country had often been left to manage institutions and deliver results without being granted the official positions they were performing.
"For years, teachers in the far reaches of this country, and acting administrators in particular, have worked in the shadows of a title they were never allowed to wear," he said.
"We led schools, steered staffrooms and answered for results, yet remained unconfirmed."
The case also raised concerns about the treatment of teachers posted to hardship regions, where working conditions and limited career opportunities have made professional advancement difficult.
The petitioners cited insecurity, geographical isolation, harsh weather, poor infrastructure and inadequate access to professional development as some of the challenges facing teachers in these areas.
They argued that such conditions placed them at a disadvantage when competing for promotions against colleagues serving in more accessible parts of the country.
Their case relied on constitutional guarantees on equality, fair labour practices, affirmative action and the obligations of public institutions to protect workers from unfair treatment.
TSC, however, defended its promotion and deployment policies, arguing that appointments were based on academic qualifications, merit, available vacancies and financial capacity.
The commission maintained that acting appointments were temporary measures introduced to address staffing shortages and ensure that schools continued operating effectively, particularly in areas where finding qualified administrators was difficult.
It also told the court that it had introduced affirmative-action measures through agreements with teachers' unions to give educators in hardship areas better consideration when administrative vacancies arose.
In defending its position, TSC cited the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which provides for the gradual promotion of teachers working in Asals and hard-to-staff regions until they attain grades corresponding to their responsibilities.The commission further argued that it had eased certain promotion requirements and pointed to the promotion of 5,291 teachers during the 2024/2025 financial year as evidence of efforts to improve career progression.
However, the court was not persuaded by TSC's explanation for failing to compensate teachers who had been assigned higher duties.
Justice Keli maintained that keeping teachers in senior positions without corresponding remuneration violated their right to fair treatment at the workplace.
"It is an unacceptable practice in a democratic and open society, and the limitation of the fair labour right for equal wages for work done is not justified, she said.
Under the orders, TSC must pay the affected teachers acting allowances dating back to the days they assumed the additional responsibilities.
However, the judgment did not compel the commission to automatically promote the petitioners to the positions they had been occupying. The court also declined to award general damages, limiting its orders to compensation for the higher duties performed.