TSC Hardship Areas and Allowances
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has excluded all Sub-Counties in Nyandarua County from the list of hardship regions. Other counties affected by this move are Muranga, Kandara, Kigumo, and Nyahururu Sub-Counties
The Commission has specified various areas as hardship areas. The areas listed as hardship comprise those that are in arid areas, those affected by famine and terrorism.
In the year 2012, TSC had 38 areas listed and approved as hardship areas. These areas were listed as hardship areas and teachers in these areas got monthly hardship allowances.
New Hardship Areas.
LIST OF COUNTIES MAPPED BY TSC UNDER HARDSHIP AREAS
| SERIAL NUMBER | COUNTY/AREA |
| 1 | MANDERA COUNTY |
| 2 | TURKANA COUNTY |
| 3 | SAMBURU COUNTY |
| 4 | WAJIR COUNTY |
| 5 | WEST POKOT COUNTY |
| 6 | NAROK COUNTY |
| 7 | GARISSA COUNTY |
| 8 | MARSABIT COUNTY |
| 9 | ISIOLO COUNTY |
| 10 | TANA RIVER COUNTY |
| 11 | LAMU COUNTY |
| 12 | KILIFI COUNTY |
| 13 | KWALE COUNTY |
| 14 | TAITA TAVETA COUNTY |
FACTORS CONSIDERED
- Limited basic social services and amenities.
- Insecurity and high possibility of security threats.
- Persistent harsh climatic conditions like flooding, landslides, and drought
- Lack of or unavailability or inaccessibility to food.
- Inadequate transport and communication network
Hardship Allowances
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC reviewed hardship allowance in 2014 to be paid at a flat rate for all equivalent grades or job groups. The Commission abolished the pegging of the hardship allowance as a percentage of basic pay.
| GRADE | TSC SCALE | HARDSHIP ALLOWANCE (PER MONTH) |
| B5 | 5 | 6,600 |
| C1 | 6 | 8,200 |
| C2 | 7 | 10,900 |
| C3 | 8 | 12,300 |
| C4 | 9 | 14,650 |
| C5 | 10 | 17,100 |
| D1 | 11 | 27,300 |
| D2 | 12 | 27,300 |
| D3 | 13 | 31,500 |
| D4 | 14 | 31,500 |
| D5 | 15 | 38,100 |
For teachers working in hardship areas, the above table shows a breakdown of how TSC compensates them according to their job group.
Teachers to lose hardship allowance in some sub‐counties as the commission reviews hardship areas.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) later reconsidered the list of sub‐counties that will be Referred to as Hardship areas.
Teachers who have been working in these regions have been getting incentives ﴾hardship allowances﴿ to help sustain them in those places by recompensing for lack of social amenities, infrastructure and a challenging environment.
Among the affected areas that TSC will seize to pay hardship include Nyandarua County ﴾Kinangop, Kipipiri, ol Joro Orok, Ndaragwa, Ol Kalou Sub‐Counties﴿, Kigumo Sub‐County, Murang’a Sub County, Kandara Sub‐County and Nyahururu Sub‐County.
The commission made an official statement that will see teachers working in these areas have their Salaries reduced. The salary decrease of hardship allowance in areas where it has been scraped off began on 1st December 2020.
TSC officers were dispatched to different sub‐counties to evaluate and collect data for centres to be dismissed due to development achieved in such areas over time and others to be included to enjoy the incentives because of the conditions which are likely to demotivate teachers from working in such areas.
Late last year, World Bank called for the scrapping of hardship allowances paid to the state to workers to save ksh.3 billion as part of cost‐cutting measures to return the country on track after increased spending during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The review of hardship zones is needed as several regionshave developed their infrastructure and social amenitiesover the last two decades and are no longer classifiedhardship areas,” read the World Bank report on KenyaPublic Expenditure Review.
TSC has listed some counties as hardship areas but not all schools or Sub counties are captured as hardship centres. Previous Counties listed as hardship areas by TSC were Turkana, Mandera, Samburu, Marsabit, Wajir, Lamu, Kwale, Isiolo, Taita Taveta, Garissa, Tana River, Kilifi, Narok and West Pokot.
This will hardly affect teachers who have been using hardship allowances to acquire loans.
Us from Kilifi north have not been affected with the allowance. Why?
Is lungalunga subcounty in the list of hardship areas.
Is Tigania East in Meru county in the list,Northern part schools such as Kirima,Thuria the climate,accessibility and several harsh working conditions.I wish education officers visit this area to see for themselves. So dreadful
Kindly consider kipkelion west..we have chilchilla,kunyak,kokwet zones getting hardship allowance while Kamasian zone which is more harder was left out…Bartera,kutung,Kamasian,saoeset,Kirengeti are harsh areas where teachers have ran away
Rachuonyo North sub county is a real hell in Homabay County.
Is suba south sub county sindo zone a hardship as for now
Which areas in Busia County are headship areas?
Is Lower and Upper Nyakach of Kisumu County under hardship areas?
Narok south is a real hard place with unavailability of water…. please do something in this area, roads are unworthy…impassable.
Chepalungu sub county in Bomet county be considered as hardship area. This place is hell
I know of lower Nyakach and part of Funyula
Manyuanda zone, Seme sub-county in Kisumu is a hell on earth rocky, leaving around with wild animals inaaccesible roads environment is just worse and not condusive it take a big risk .
It should be considered as a hardship area
Kindly consider kaloleni we have no water ,tunateseka sana
I think it will be prudent if SUBA SOUTH is considered as well. All those factors mentioned affect the region.
Asking for lungalunga sub county, is it in?
I thought Makueni was a hardship area. Cant find it in the given list
Does it mean that all schools in the mentioned counties will get the allowances or it’s per a sub county selectedor zone, i wish if it’s narok county all schools to enjoy the allowance because there has been biasness in this some schools have no hardship n yet they are in hard situation like myself am working in olpura pry in narok east mosiro zone n am not getting the allowance
What about kuresoi… So harsh and still insecure. No hardship
I concur….and too much cold…. it’s like a freezer
Please consider Kipkelion East, some schools which bordered with Kipkelion West like Murasoi primary,Chepcholiet pry,Mosomborik pry and Nderiot.They are in wild environment…
Please consider Suba south ..
Kot kojowi in ndhiwa,homabay County should be considered.roads impossible,no clean water,climate wise very harsh.
Kindly consider Mbita East zone, Lambwe zone and part of Mbita West zone in SUBA NORTH in your list please. They are worse.
Kindly consider Nyatike sub county. Roads are impassable, lack of social amenities, scarcity of food, this place is dry ,full of stones and scorpions . Exhobitant food prices. Areas away from the lake lack water. Surviving here takes a heart.
Plz consider Kamwega area in Nandi North subcounty
Kindly consider enhancing the cost of leaving in all schools in suba south sub county, it is a no go zone at this period of the year.with rains on,getting out of schools is a hell,say a teacher at Got Kombuto,NYALKEMBO, Sawanka primary schools, just to mention but a few.I just can’t tell how the personnel who were doing the survey reached these schools.Accessibility to these good institutions is a hell.
Similarly, schools like Nyakiya primary & secondary, NYALKEMBO primary are bordering RUMA National Park,with all the risks that comes with game parks right from tse tse fly infestation and the moment when the fierce animals invade the community, it becomes a hell of risk.
May our able employer work with speed to cushion her desperate employees in SUBA AND MBITA SUB COUNTIES on this menase.
Embu county Mbeere consituencies are worse than some parts of West Pokot,consider maintaining them
Kindly consider Kipkelion west subcounty Kamasian zones among others in Kericho county the place deserves hardship allowances…the terrain is more worse as compared to Chilchila,kunyak zones which have hardship allowances
Kilifi county malindi sub county kakoneni zone was a hardship and still in all conditions worsening hence the hardships are still tough and should not be renove
Tigania west,kianjai zone in Meru county should also be considered,some schools are in areas where roads are impassable especially when it rains