The teachers employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) which was established by Article 237 of the Kenyan constitution is mandated to register,recruit,transfer ,promote and terminate terms of service of all teachers in the public service.
To this regard the commission posts teachers to any part of the country for execution of their mandate.
To ensure equality and equity,the commission identified certain areas within the country which have unfavorable conditions that end up affecting teaching and learning in institutions.
The teachers in those areas receive hardship allowances monthly as compensation.
For a teacher to qualify for hardship allowance ,he/she must be stationed in a centre which meets the following conditions
Poor transport and communication channel
High levels of insecurity in the surrounding
Harsh and unfavorable climatic conditions eg-floods,landslides,earthquakes
Few or no social-essential amenities eg- Health centers
Below is a list of counties which were considered by the Teachers Service Commission as hardship areas.Important to note is that NOT all schools in the counties listed below are captured as hardship centers.
Only schools which meet the aforementioned criteria have their staff receive hardship allowances monthly.
S/No County Code County
1 2 Kwale
2 3 Kilifi
3 4 Tana River
4 5 Lamu
5 6 Taita Taveta
6 7 Garrisa
7 8 Wajir
8 9 Mandera
9 10 Marsabit
10 11 Isiolo
11 23 Turkana
12 24 West pokot
13 25 Samburu
14 33 Narok
According to 2014 reviewed hardship allowances by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) ,a flat rate amount is disbursed to all teachers who qualify for hardship allowances depending on individual’s job group and job grade.
According to a Collective Bargaining Agreement between Kenya National Union of Teachers and Teachers Service Commission on October 20th 2016 in the presence of Justice Abuodha,teachers in hardship areas should be paid hardship allowances as shown in the table below;
S/NO JOB GRADE JOB GROUP Hardship Allowance (PM.)
1 B5 G Kshs 6,600
2 C1 H Kshs 8,250
3 C2 I Kshs1 0,900
4 C3 J Kshs 12,300
5 C4 K Kshs 14,550
6 C5 L Kshs 17,100
7 D1 M Kshs 27,300
8 D2 N Kshs 27,300
9 D3 P Kshs 31,450
10 D4 Q Kshs 31,450
11 D5 R Kshs 38,000
