The Teaching Service Commission was established under the Teaching Service Commission Act No.1 of 1975 dated February 07, 1975. However, this body did not come into existence until April 10, 1978. The Teaching Service Commission was appointed by the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana under the provision of the above Act with full executive powers.

In the 1970s, there was a system of Dual Control in the Public Education Sector where various religious and other bodies (African, Methodist Episcopal, Anglican, Christian Brethren, Christian Catholic, Church of Scotland, Congregational, Government, Hindu, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Pilgrim Holiness, Roman Catholic, Seven Day Adventist, Undenominational, Unevangelised Field Missions) owned the schools, and the Government provided grants for the payment of teachers' salaries and for items such as the teaching of Hindi, sewing and gardening, stationery, and sanitation. Because of this system of "Dual Control of Schools", the Teaching Service Commission Act of 1975 provided meaningful involvement by the various Governing Bodies in making appointments at all levels to the schools under their control.

Before the Teaching Service Commission Act of 1975 could be implemented, there arose serious disagreements between the Government and the Governing Bodies over certain Senior Appointments, and, in 1976 the Government assumed ownership and controll of all schools. The Teaching Service Commission Act of 1977 reflected the fact that Governing Bodies no longer had any say in the making of appointments to schools, and this was further codified at Articles 207 to 209 in the 1980 Constitution. Further amendments were made by Act No. 17 of 1984, where authority to delegate was restored after its accidental removal from the 1980 Act. The latest amendment was under the Constitution (Amendment) No. 3 Act 2001 which principally gave the Commission the authority to elect its own Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson.

Under Article 209 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana "... the power to appoint persons as teachers in the public service and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices shall vest in the Teaching Service Commission." The Commission may delegate any of its powers to anyone or more or its members, or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to any public officer. Some of the powers were delegated to REdOs and the ACEO (Georgetown) in 1984, but were taken back by the Commission in 2000. The Commission also has the power in Article 226 (3) to regulate its own procedure.