The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has moved swiftly to dismiss a viral social media poster falsely claiming that headteachers and principals could be relieved of their classroom teaching duties — labelling the circulating content as misleading and fake.
The poster, which spread rapidly across social media platforms on Wednesday, June 10, alleged that a proposal had been submitted to TSC seeking to exempt school heads from teaching responsibilities so they could focus exclusively on administrative management and the implementation of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum. The claims quickly gained traction among teachers, parents, and education stakeholders, prompting the commission to issue an urgent clarification.
“Reference is made to the above circulating poster. Please note that the information is misleading and fake,” TSC said in a statement released the same day.
The commission was categorical: no such proposal has been received or approved, and the poster has no official basis whatsoever. TSC further urged all teachers, school leaders, and members of the public to exercise caution and seek information exclusively from verified sources.
“You are always advised to rely on official communication relayed through the TSC official channels i.e. TSC Website (www.tsc.go.ke); Facebook (TSC KENYA) and X (@TSC_KE),” the commission stated.
The fake poster tapped into a genuine and long-running conversation within Kenya’s education sector. School heads have for some time argued that their dual responsibilities — managing increasingly complex institutions while simultaneously maintaining teaching loads — are placing them under immense strain. The pressure has grown sharper under the CBE rollout, with many principals now overseeing blended primary-junior school structures spanning Grades 1 through 9.
Under the TSC Code of Regulations for Teachers, heads of institutions are mandated to teach, though the applicable hours vary by school size and category. While school heads have informally pushed for reduced classroom obligations to better manage administrative demands, no formal proposal to that effect has been tabled with the commission.
Wednesday’s clarification is not the first time TSC has been forced to counter false information. In April alone, the commission dismissed fake posters purporting to announce hardship allowance reclassifications, changes to secondary school subject combinations, and an unauthorized teacher recruitment advert. In each case, TSC urged the public to disregard information not sourced from its official platforms.
The pattern points to a deliberate and sustained campaign of misinformation targeting the education sector at a particularly sensitive moment, as Kenya navigates the full rollout of CBE, widespread school unrest, and reforms to school management structures.
For teachers and parents anxious about the direction of Kenya’s education system, the commission’s message is unequivocal: trust only what comes directly from TSC.
