Details have emerged that primary school headteachers through their association Kepsha (Kenya Primary School Heads Association) will be pushing for promotion to job group D1.

Currently very few primary school headteachers are in job group D1 as senior headteachers.

Approximately 10,000 teachers and teacher representatives will be heading to State House, Nairobi on Saturday, for a meeting being hosted by President William Ruto.

Teachers unions have already made arrangement to send delegates to meet the President.

Knut, Kuppet, Kepsha, Kessha, Kusnet and Kewota have been listed as the attendees to Statehouse.

Knut, Kuppet, Kepsha, Kessha, Kusnet and Kewota will each have 3,300, 2,000, 2,300, 2,000, 400 and 100 delegates respectively honouring President Ruto’s invitation.

Take note of these abbreviationsKnut – Kenya National Union of TeachersKuppet – Kenya Union of Post Primary Education TeachersKepsha – Kenya Primary School Heads AssociationKessha – Kenya Secondary School Heads AssociationKusnet – Kenya Union of Special Education TeachersKewota – Kenya Women Teachers Association

The President has hosted delegations from various parts of the country to address issues affecting them.

Kepsha chairperson Fuad Ali, in a memo has invited sub county and county officials for the meeting.

“To enable proper logistical preparations, all county chairpersons are requested to submit the details of their delegates per sub-county in the following format: name, position, school, sub-county, county, telephone number,” Fuad Ali wrote in a memo communicating the invitation to State House.

Kepsha is eyeing for promotion of primary school headteachers to grade D1 over additional tasks.

The primary school headteachers who are doubling as principals in junior school in acting capacity want their pay enhanced over additional management responsibility in junior schools.

They are seeking to be confirmed as principals in job group D1 and progressively get promoted to job group D5 inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) just like principals in secondary schools.

There first attempt to get D1 promotion was thwarted by both Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba and former TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia.

CS Ogamba cited lack of funds as Macharia stated that no salary increment can be made without a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Macharia while addressing the headteachers during a 2024 KEPSHA conference in Mombasa said it will not be possible to promote the headteachers without CBA.

She asked the headteachers to submit the promotion proposal through the teachers unions for the issue to be addressed in the CBA 2025 – 2029.

“We cannot review salaries without a formal Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Nancy Macharia told the primary school headteachers.

“With regard to additional responsibilities I have heard. These are additional responsibilities occasioned by implementation of CBC including management of junior school and noting that the same touches on terms and conditions of service. They (unions) have given us a memorandum of what we expect in the next CBA. Ask the unions to include this issue to be addressed in the CBA,” added Macharia.

However this did not materialize as no proposal to promote the headteachers to grade D1 was submitted in the CBA 2025 – 2029.

The primary headteachers are acting principals in junior secondary section that comprise of Grades 7, 8 and 9.

Kepsha will also raise other key concerns affecting smooth running of schools.

One of the main concerns they will raise with President Ruto is the perennial delayed release of school funds.

Late disbursement of the funds has often disrupted learning, left institutions struggling to cover operational costs, and in some cases parents are made to pay extra levies to cover the deficit.

It is also expected that the teachers will bring up the issue of reduced funding to schools under the Free Primary Education, junior school and Free Day Secondary Education programmes.

Schools are owed in excess of Sh70 billion in undisbursed funds.

Kepsha also want the government to provide clarity on readiness for transition to Grade 10 (senior school) in January 2026 and career guidance for learners.

According to the County-Based Dialogue on Education Quality and Learning Outcomes in Competency-Based Education (CBE) report that was released in April this year, stakeholders raised fresh concerns over the implementation of the CBE, citing challenges in assessment, teacher management, and welfare.

The report reveals that the competency-based assessment (CBA) process has been faulted for being costly, unfair, and lacking inclusivity.

Parents complained about inflated fees while schools reported inflated scores in school-based assessments.

“Many stakeholders were unaware of the range of assessments administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council across different education levels. Stakeholders pointed out that subjects like creative arts were not comprehensively assessed due to insufficient teacher capacity. Concerns were raised regarding certification at Grade 12, particularly on how literacy levels would be measured in light of dropout rates. Similarly, there were uncertainties about assessing learners who may have dropped out at Grade 6. The restriction on repetition under the CBA system led to questions about the fate of learners who failed to meet Kenya Junior School Education Assessment requirements,” reads the report.

Staffing concerns were most acute in junior schools, where teachers were often forced to teach outside their areas of expertise.

High turnover, particularly in underserved regions, was linked to poor living conditions, isolation, and lack of transport.

The shortage of Special Needs Education teachers was flagged as a critical barrier to implementing inclusive education.

On professional development, stakeholders faulted short-term retooling sessions as inadequate and called for structured, long-term in-service training tailored to specialised subjects.

Teachers in refugee schools were also said to be excluded from national retooling programmes.

Welfare issues further weighed down the teaching force.

Teachers complained of heavy workloads, weak health insurance cover, lack of mental health support, and even unauthorised deductions from their salaries.

“Teachers in remote regions are overburdened, demotivated, and burnt out. Without addressing their welfare. quality learning outcomes cannot be achieved,” the report noted.

To resolve these gaps, stakeholders recommended that teachers in junior schools be reassigned to their subject specialisations, retooling programmes be restructured to address real capacity needs, and teacher welfare improved through better health insurance, counseling, and stress management workshops.