President Ruto backs teachers’ push to review salaries every two years

President William Ruto has accepted a request by teachers that the period it takes to review their salaries be reduced from the current four years.

The teachers want the four-year cycle of reviewing the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Teachers Service Commission and their unions be reduced to two years.

Whereas the President agreed that the period should be reduced, he tasked the Teachers Service Commission, the Ministry of Education and teacher unions to deliberate on the matter and propose the appropriate CBA period.

Speaking at State House Nairobi when he hosted 10,000 teachers from all parts of the country on Saturday, President Ruto commended the teachers for embracing dialogue over salaries and other terms of employment.

He said there was no need for teachers to go to the streets over matters that can be solved amicably.

The current CBA covers the period 2025-2029, and was signed in July 2025. The agreement introduces a basic salary increase for teachers spread over the four-year period. The first phase was implemented last July.

At the same time, President Ruto said the government will provide a better medical cover for teachers that is in tandem with what civil servants get.

"We are going to review the medical cover for teachers because the current one does not meet the medical needs of the teaching fraternity," President Ruto said.

At the meeting, which was attended by members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET), Kenya Secondary School Heads Association and the Kenya Primary School Heads Association, teachers and the Affordable Housing Board signed an MoU to reserve 20 per cent of the housing units for teachers.

"We are signing a Memorandum of Understanding for teachers to get 20 per cent of affordable houses reserved for them," the President said.

The President pointed out that through the Housing Levy, teachers contribute Ksh.900 million or 13 per cent of the total housing fund every month, saying they deserved decent homes like the rest of Kenyans.

The President reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the education sector to produce a well-trained and knowledgeable workforce to drive the country’s transformation.

In the past three years, he said, the government has increased the education budget from Ksh.540 billion in 2022 to Ksh.702 billion in the 2025-2026 financial year, the largest increase in the country’s history.

He also explained that the government has addressed concerns over the Competency-Based Education and Training system, injecting clarity, a smooth transition and the hiring of 76,000 teachers.

"We will recruit 24,000 teachers in January to make the number hired in the past three years 100,000. This has reduced shortages and boosted the teacher-student ratio," he said.

The President said the government has built 23,000 classrooms, established the Open University of Kenya, and introduced a new funding higher education model that supports learners while increasing resources for universities and technical training colleges.

President Ruto commended the teachers for their service and commitment, saying that they often sacrifice personal comfort for the sake of their students.

He described teachers as unsung heroes whose dedication shapes the foundation of society.

“Teachers are the greatest patriots and heroes of the Republic of Kenya. They mind the children of others and spend sleepless nights thinking about them,” he said.

Saying that the nation owes much of its progress to the teaching fraternity, President Ruto asked them to support the government’s transformation agenda.

He regretted that Kenya lagged behind countries that were its peers in the 1960s, including South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

"We were at the same level of development in 1963, but they are now in the First World, while we are still in the Third World," he explained.

Pointing out that transformation rises or falls on the quality of leadership, the President said the government will continue making the right decisions that would change Kenya in a generation.

"The countries we were at par in the 1960s made the necessary decisions and today they are in the First World. We are still in the Third World," he said.

On teachers' career progression, he said the government will increase funds for promotion from Ksh.1 billion to Ksh.2 billion to double the promotions from 25,000 to 50,000 a year.

In the past three years, the President disclosed that 151,000 teachers have been promoted yet a huge backlog remains.

On the Kenya National Union of Teachers request that 45-year-old trained teachers who have not been recruited by the TSC be absorbed. the President directed that the employer adopt the policy of first out of college, first in on employment.

"Beginning this year, we are going to employ teachers based on First In First Out policy," he said.

He told the Ministry of Education officials to compile the list of teachers who are 45 years old and unemployed to explore the possibility of hiring them.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said teachers are the silent soldiers of every nation, explaining that they "spend sleepless nights for the sake of children of others".

"The patriotism of teachers is not written on flags, but in the small victories of a child who learns to read, a young mind awakened to possibility, a dream kept alive in a humble classroom," Prof Kindiki pointed out.