NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 22 – The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has announced that, effective 1 December 2025, teachers will shift from the Minet-Kenya medical insurance scheme to a new premium medical cover under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
The move comes ahead of the Minet contract’s expiry and amid ongoing criticism over benefit levels under Minet.
Under the new SHA-based scheme, teachers will enjoy enhanced benefits beyond what was offered by Minet.
These include inpatient and outpatient services, dental and optical care, annual checkups, both road and air ambulance services, overseas treatment, group life cover, and last-expense cover.
The scheme will cover the teacher, their spouse, and up to six dependents.
However, some teacher groups remain skeptical.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and KUPPET have raised concerns over the 2.75% mandatory SHA deduction from gross income and whether it will amount to double deductions for some members.
Many also want assurances that hospital access, claim processing, and benefit levels will not be diminished in transition.
The Commission has defended its decision, stressing that medical allowances previously given to teachers were inadequate.
“The Medical Allowance was hardly enough to cater for medical expenses for the individual teachers and their dependents,” said TSC in a statwment.
It emphasized its responsibility to improve welfare and service delivery across the profession.
“The Commission has continuously sought ways of improving the general welfare of its teachers with a view to enhancing service delivery.”
Under Minet, benefit levels vary by teacher grade: senior secondary teachers, for example, have inpatient cover up to Sh1.3 million and outpatient benefits of around Sh200,000, while entry-level primary teachers receive somewhat lower covers.
The current scheme also allows up to eight children to be enrolled.
TSC maintains it had committed to engage stakeholders including teachers’ unions to finalize the transition framework.
The concern now is whether the new SHA scheme will preserve or exceed existing benefits and whether implementation will be timely and efficient.
