Teachers across the country are set to win big after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) inked a new deal worth Ksh33 billion.
In the new 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), teachers in the highest job group (D5) are set to earn up to Ksh167,415, marking a five per cent increase in their salaries.
The new salaries were the result of day-long crunch talks between TSC and the two teachers’ unions at the Kenya Institute of Special Education in Kasarani on Friday, July 18. In the meeting, union leaders and government representatives agreed on a 29.6 per cent increase for the lowest-paid teachers.
Under the deal, the lowest-paid teacher, currently earning around Ksh23,000, will see their pay rise to about Ksh29,000.
The increment will be implemented gradually, with the agreement projecting an annual salary adjustment budget of Ksh8.4 billion yearly, totalling Kshh33 billion at the end of the five-year cycle, which ends on June 30, 2029.
The implementation of the new CBA is set to begin immediately, with teachers expected to receive revised paychecks by the end of this month.
Teachers in job group C1 are set to earn a basic salary of around Ksh35,300 to Ksh47,300 under the new CBA. Job group C2 teachers will earn between Ksh41,400 and Ksh57,200 per month, while those in job group C3 will earn from Ksh49,800 to Ksh66,200.
Further, teachers in job group C4 are set to earn a basic salary of between Ksh58,600 and Ksh77,100. Those in C5 will earn from Ksh69,700 to Ksh96,100. Teachers in job group D1 are expected to earn in the region of Ksh81,000 to Ksh99,300.
The new arrangement also provides for job group D2 teachers to earn between Ksh95,300 and Ksh116,000. Job group D3 teachers will earn Ksh109,200 to Ksh133,300, while those in job group D4 are set to earn between Ksh121,800 and Ksh150,700.
Speaking after the signing, Akelo Misori, Secretary General of Kuppet, noted that the increment corrects historical imbalances. He recalled that in the 2016–2021 CBA, school administrators, principals, and heads of departments were the biggest beneficiaries, while classroom teachers were left behind. The new agreement shifts the focus back to the base of the teaching pyramid.
While allowances remain largely unchanged, the union leaders said they agreed on the phasing out of the controversial Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), a system introduced in 2018 that has faced fierce opposition from teachers over its rigidity, opacity, and punitive nature.
The new deal comes after TSC met with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) earlier in the week to agree on a counter-offer to the teachers’ demands. Following the Tuesday meeting, TSC invited teachers’ unions for negotiations on Friday in a renewed effort to resolve the salary standoff that has gripped the education sector.
