Members of Parliament (MPs) have warned the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over the upcoming recruitment of teachers who are set to fill 35,550 vacancies in primary and junior secondary schools.
The lawmakers informed the TSC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Nancy Macharia yesterday that recruitment and promotion of teachers have always been marred with corruption at the expense of those who deserve the positions through both merit and experience. According to them, the practice should not repeat in the upcoming recruitment.
The National Assembly on Education Chaired by Mr Julius Melly (Tinderet) regretted that promotions and recruitment had for long depended on how much an individual was willing to pay or if one knew someone at the Commission. This has left thousands of qualified and deserving teachers unemployed.
The MPs said that while some teachers get permanent employment even three months after leaving college, some who graduated as far back as 2010 are yet to be employed due to corruption.
“Promotions of teachers have been riddled with corruption. There are those who joined the profession recently but, within a few years, have risen through the ranks just because they know who to talk to and what to do,” said Melly.
The Commission was advised to put more oversight measures during the recruitment process.
“Ensure that the process is free, fair and credible because this committee will be judged harshly if the process does not go the right way,” said Mr Kipchumba.
In a recent circular, the Commission advertisement 9,000 vacancies on permanent and pensionable terms for junior secondary school teachers and another 1,000 for primary school tutors.
TSC will also recruit 21,550 teacher interns in junior secondary schools and another 4,000 for primary schools.
There was also another issue regarding the promotion of teachers whereby thousands of teachers have stagnated in the same job group for years without being promoted while others are still serving in their positions in acting capacities and are yet to be confirmed by the Commission.
The MPs blamed TSC for engaging in unfair practices during the recruitment of teachers by lumping graduates who graduated recently are lumped together with those who graduated more than a decade ago.
On her part, Narok County Women Representative Rebecca Tonkei regretted that there have been complaints from the public over TSC placements in some areas with many candidates often complaining that they had been left out during the recruitment at the expense of other coming from other places.
On her part, Nyamira County Women Representative Jerusha Momanyi said that there are teachers who have worked in her constituency for more than three years and do not have any disciplinary cases but have never gotten promoted.
In her defence, TSC CEO Dr Nancy Macharia told MPs that the Commission’s recruitment process has always been free and fair. However, she admitted that some unscrupulous individuals do take advantage of the high rate of unemployment in the country to issue fake letters to teachers.
“We have sought the assistance of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and we also urge members (of the committee) to forward any such cases to us for action,” said Dr Macharia.
Regarding promotions, Macharia laid the blame on the busy academic calendar but promised to effect the pending promotions after completion of the ongoing national examinations.
She said that promotions are every teacher’s right and are done after three years and TSC does not charge any fee to effect. ”We have an appraisal system. If a teacher has had a successful service, then he or she should be automatically promoted after three years because that is their right,” said Dr Macharia.