TSC Reveals Requirements for Promotion of Teachers This Coming Week
According to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), more than 36,000 teachers could be rewarded with promotions this coming week in a bid to boost Junior Secondary School (JSS) education.
This was revealed in the National Assembly.
According to a released schedule, the Commission will also recruit an additional 450 new secondary school teachers.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Nancy Macharia informed Members of Parliament (MPs) that out of the 36,829 teachers targeted for promotion, 10,833 teachers are going to be promoted from primary schools to work in junior secondary schools.
The promotions will be effected from Monday because identified candidates meet the requisite qualifications for deployment.
When she appeared before the Parliamentary Education Committee, Dr Nancy Macharia told Members of Parliament (MPs) that at that time they were mapping teachers after applications had been submitted for promotion slots.
“The mapping process of primary school teachers eligible to teach in junior secondary schools is a continuous process and verification of the mapped files is still ongoing to identify more teachers eligible to be posted to JSS,” she said to legislators.
According to the Commission, qualification for deployment to JSS includes:
- Having a Diploma in Education
- At least a C+ (Plus) mean grade in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination or its equivalent and at least C (Plus) in the two teaching subjects at KCSE or its equivalent.
- One must have studied at least eight units in each of the two teaching subjects at the university
The deployment of these teachers will surpass the recently recruited 30,550 primary school teachers who were posted to JSS for Grade 7 learners across the county. The Commission allocated one teacher per class for all Grade 7 classes in all public schools.
“While the teacher establishment for Grade 7 level is 61,000 (at least two teachers per class), the Commission had recruited 30,550 teachers (one teacher per class) bringing the teacher shortage at Grade 7 to 30,550,” said Dr Macharia.
The move comes amid congestion in JSSs due to the high number of new learners due to inadequate infrastructure in schools and the high school fees rates in private schools.
Regarding the recruitment of 450 secondary school teachers, the TSC CEO said that this will start immediately after the ongoing recruitment drive comes to an end.
The vacancies came up after the Commission recruited 35,550 teachers out of the 36,000 vacancies that had been allocated.
Out of these 9,000 were recruited on permanent and pensionable terms of service to JSS while 1,000 posts were on internship terms in JSS. There were 4,000 posts for teacher interns in primary schools.
“As of June 2022, the Commission was faced with a teacher shortage of 116,000 (48,327 at primary level and 67,673 in post-primary instructions countrywide,” said Dr Nancy Macharia.
The promotion of the other 25,996 teachers for the financial year 2022/2023 is subject to budgetary allocation.
Out of the 25,996 teachers, 11,258 will be promoted in the Common Cadre promotions which will benefit teachers in job grades J (C1), K(C2) and L(C3). Promotion from Job Group J to K and K to L is done after three years of satisfactory performance.
13,717 teachers will be promoted via competitive promotion where teachers will have to apply online, and complete the Teacher Proficiency Course or promotion interview done by TSC.
A further 1,021 teachers will be promoted through affirmative action in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and hard-to-staff areas. The Commission sets aside an additional 5% of the teaching posts declared to ASAL areas.
Local teachers are hired and retained in the areas for optimal staffing levels and stability. Teachers from other areas tend to be intolerant of the hardships experienced in these areas.
Shortage of teachers in ASAL and hard-to-staff areas is due to various reasons among them the diverse subjects in the curriculum, huge enrolment and the high number of schools in these areas. There are also hardship issues for teachers such as insecurity, poor roads and a harsh climate.
Dr Macharia told Members of Parliament (MPs) that promotions are done according to the provided guidelines. Other determinants include the availability of funds, the existence of vacancies, merit and ability as reflected in a candidate’s work performances, seniority and experience, annual performance records and academic achievements.
“Promotion of teachers in public service is premised on Regulation 73 of the Code of Regulations for teachers, the career progression guidelines and the policy on selection and appointment of institutional administrators,” she said.
Dr Nancy Macharia told MPs that the Commission had stopped the delocalization of teachers and to this effect transferred all 14,733 teachers who had requested transfers as of November 30, 2022.
“To address the issue raised during the implementation of the delocalization policy, the Commission stopped the implementation of the said policy, has and continues to transfer teachers who apply for transfers to their home counties,” said Macharia.
She also revealed that they had also begun reviewing the code of regulation for teachers (2015) to address emerging issues in the teaching sector.
The session in the National Assembly came following a barrage of complaints from teachers over the high number of learners admitted in Grade 7 and the shortage of textbooks and other materials used in teaching.
The high number of learners have strained teachers and this had forced the Teachers Service Commission to consider promoting teachers to address the shortages.
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