The Kenya Kwanza administration had promised to do away with the delocalization of teachers with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) set to adjust accordingly.
This has made many teachers working in areas that are hard to staff across the country seek transfers.
According to research done by Teacher.co.ke, a good number of teachers in Homabay County have submitted their applications for a transfer to other counties that are near their homes. Some of the teachers seeking transfers are those seeking to be close to their families, those who have overstayed in schools while others have grown tired of pending confirmations to the positions they attended interviews for with no change in salary even for areas declared as hard to staff areas such as Suba Sub-County.
So what are the factors that the Commission considers when considering allowing a teacher to transfer from one county to another?
The factors are usually listed on the transfer portal and can be seen when a teacher is applying for a transfer.
In this article, we provide further details on the same.
- Length of stay of a teacher at current station, Sub-County and County.
A teacher MUST have served in their current station for a period of not less than three (3) years for the North Eastern region and five (5) years in other areas across the country since their first appointment. However, the Commission has the mandate to authorize otherwise as it is in charge of teacher recruitment. The priority only changes based on the length of stay since the date of the first appointment.
- Teacher’s disability status
The government usually gives priority to individuals with disabilities and this also applies to the transfer of teachers. Delocalized teachers who have a proven disability status will have top consideration when considering a transfer.
- Health status
A teacher with a proven case of terminal illness used to be exempted from transfers out of their sub-county of work.
Ailing tutors will be the first priority. Teachers with chronic conditions such as High Blood pressure, Diabetes etc. will have their transfers early.
However, TSC does an evaluation on a case-by-case scenario considering medical documents, availability and accessibility to the appropriate medical facilities amongst other factors in the proposed station.
- Teacher’s age
The age of a teacher is one of the factors that the Commission considers when addressing a teacher’s transfer application.
Previously, teachers aged 56 years and above used to be exempted from the transfer out of the area of their current workstations.
Now with delocalization having been scrapped, teachers aged 50 years and above will be first to be prioritized when transfer requests are being looked at.
Teachers of this age usually involve school heads who were transferred out of the county starting in the year 2018. Around 60,078 primary school head teachers and secondary school principals were delocalized.
- Family Consideration
Teachers who have families will be considered and this is set to be a crucial factor when re-routing teachers who had been delocalized. As evidence of marriage, teachers will be required to provide a marriage certificate or an affidavit.
Previously, TSC transferred couples who are employees of the Commission had they have formally declared their marital status in the same neighbourhood.