The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set to make changes to the promotion of teachers after the earlier advert on the same was cancelled.
The earlier promotion advert had 14,738 promotion vacancies for teachers across the country.
Officials from the Commission have already appeared before the National Assembly Education and Research Committee on two occasions.
Members of Parliament were unhappy with the failure of the Commission to promote teachers who have remained in the same job group for years.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Chairman Omboko Milemba was in support of the cancellation of the advert and implored the Commission to increase the number of vacancies.
In addition, he said that there were many teachers deserving of the promotions who had been left out. In his view, the plan had been a mockery to teachers especially teachers in job groups C2, C3 and C4.
“People deserving of promotion are not the target of the advertisement. These are teachers who are in job grades C3 and C4. It is a drop in the ocean,” said Milemba.
In the advertisement, most positions were for primary schools with only 3,392 slots meant for secondary school.
Since the advertisement was issued on Wednesday, teachers have expressed their dissatisfaction over what most of them termed as a ‘raw deal’.
Primary school teachers in job grades B5 and C1 who had been left out of the promotions complained that the promotions should be automatic for those in job grade C2.
They wondered why the Commission had created two senior teacher position i.e. C2 and C3 which represents senior teacher II and I.
Senior teachers in job group C2 also expressed discontent saying that moving to C3 had been hectic. It appeared that teachers must first complete at least three years in C2 before they can be considered for promotion to C3.
The advertised promotion vacancies had been occasioned by retirements, resignations or deaths. There were also teachers in administrative positions who had been in acting capacities.
Milemba blamed TSC for not promoting teachers, making them lose their benefits.
He also revealed that his office had been working on data to establish the extent of the problem and what teachers are owed. He put the figure at more than 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 the MP of Emuhaya Constituency.
According to Nairobi’s KUPPET Branch Secretary-General Moses Mbora the stagnation of teachers in one grade has demotivated them.
He added that having many principals and chief principals and failing to promote their deputies would create a crisis of succession.
“Such a teacher loses on better pension because it is pegged on basic pay,” said Mr Mbora.
He also called for the reinstatement of the schemes of service and the abolishing of the career progression guidelines.
“The Career Progression Guidelines are hurting teachers. There are too many salary points,” added Mbora.
When TSC officials appeared before the Education Committee, they were asked to explain why promotion had not taken place.
“The Commission has not been granted additional budgetary allocations for the promotion of teachers for the past 10 years except in July 2017,” said the TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia, adding that promotion was based on vacancies arising from natural attrition.