Primary school heads of institutions who were promoted without following Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers are set to find themselves in trouble for not going through the set guidelines.
The group includes Deputy Headteachers who are in an acting capacity but did not undergo the set guidelines to warrant their current positions.
The Career Progression Guidelines for teachers do not allow a teacher to skip two job groups in any kind of promotion. According to the guidelines, one must serve one job group for at least three years before moving to the next job grade.
For instance, a teacher in job grade C2 can be promoted to job grade C3 before going to job grade C4. Therefore, it is not possible for a teacher to move directly from job grade C2 to job grade C4 without having been in job grade C3.
Some teachers had been issued with promotion letters from their TSC County Directors’ offices to act as Deputy Headteachers.
However, according to the CPG, some of these teachers are not eligible since some are in job grade C2 and others in C1 without having served as a Senior Teacher I, in job grade C3 to be considered for promotion.
Some Deputy Headteachers who had been in an acting capacity and were hoping to apply for confirmation in the recently-advertised promotions were locked out by the system.
However, teachers in ASAL and Hard to Staff Areas are allowed to skip job grades because promotion is done through affirmative action.
TSC cancelled the promotions advert that had 14,738 vacancies following massive protests from various teachers including teachers in an acting capacity.
The advert had 3,392 slots allocated to secondary schools while 11,346 were allocated to primary schools. The vacancies were occasioned by retirements, deaths or resignations.
However, the promotions left out teachers in job grades B5 and C1 with promotions to C2 automatically according to the CPG.
Questions were raised on why the Commission had created two senior teacher positions i.e. C2 and C3 (Senior Teacher II and I respectively).
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (KUPPET) Chairperson Omboko Milemba supported the cancellation of the advert and called on the Commission to increase the number of vacancies.
Milemba said that many teachers who deserved promotions could have been left out.
“People deserving promotion is not the target of the advertisement. These are teachers in job grades C3 and C4 job groups. It is a drop in the ocean,” said Omboko Milemba.
The KUPPET Chair blamed TSC for not promoting teachers making them lose the benefits that they deserve for serving the Commission well.
He added that the union was working on data to find out the extent of the issue and what teachers are owed. However, he did approximate the figure to be upwards of Kshs. 1 Billion.
“This is a pending bill that is not qualified. It is the exploitation of labour by TSC and the government. I have put a question in Parliament but I am doing research with my office staff to back the numbers up. It has become impossible to be promoted unless you are in administration,” said Emuhaya MP.
On his part, the KUPPET Nairobi Branch Secretary-General Moses Mbora said that stagnating in one job grade has demotivated teachers.
“Job grade C3 is where teachers have stagnated the most. Slots were advertised for D4 yet there are many principals in job grade D3 who also deserve to be promoted. Principals were interviewed for promotion to D4 grade in April but nothing happened. We have seen another advertisement and their positions are not mentioned,” said Mr Mbora.
In addition, Mbora said that if many principals and chief principals do not promote deputies, this would create a crisis of succession.