TSC Sued for Systemic Inequities in 2024–2025 Teacher Promotion Process.
Teachers in hardship and arid areas have gone to court to challenge the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over the exclusion of 1,864 teachers from the current promotion cycle.
The petition has been filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court by the Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association. The association is seeking orders to stop the implementation of the promotion process announced by TSC in January 2025.
According to the petition, TSC’s decision to leave out teachers from Samburu, Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir, Lamu, Turkana, Mandera and Tana River counties is discriminatory and arbitrary and contravenes constitutional and statutory obligations.
The association says the exclusion directly violates the economic and social rights of teachers, learners and communities in the historically marginalised counties.
The petition has the National Assembly as the second respondent and the Attorney-General as the third respondent. The teachers are being represented by advocate Theddaos Okundi who has argued that TSC’s actions will lead to inequality, demoralisation of staff, disruption of education services and industrial action.
The petition reads in part: “The said implementation will result in discrimination against teachers serving in these historically marginalised areas, thereby violating the economic and social rights of the teachers, students and the communities they serve.”
The 1,864 teachers were initially included in the list of over 25,000 teachers to be promoted in the 2024-2025 financial year promotion programme. They claim their names were later removed without any criteria or justification. The petition says this is systemic discrimination that ignores the unique circumstances and statutory entitlements of personnel deployed in hardship areas.
The teachers have also argued that TSC’s actions will cause irreparable harm to the education sector in the affected counties, noting that continued marginalisation of educators in hardship areas will undermine public service delivery and frustrate constitutional imperatives on equity and inclusivity.
The petition says: “The matter raises substantial public interest questions affecting thousands of teachers and vulnerable populations in historically marginalised regions which require urgent and immediate judicial intervention.”In their submissions, the petitioners also faulted the recognised teachers’ unions for not doing enough to protect the rights and welfare of their members.
Mr Anthony Barasa Mabonga who spoke on behalf of the affected teachers said: “We feel abandoned by unions, by institutions and by those who should have stood for fairness.”
The teachers are seeking orders suspending the implementation of the promotions pending the hearing of the petition and declarations that they have a right to equal treatment and protection under the Constitution of Kenya and relevant labour laws. The court will issue directions on the matter after preliminary consideration of the application.
TSC Sued for Systemic Inequities in 2024–2025 Teacher Promotion Process.