The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set to lay off more than a thousand school heads whose two-year contracts end this July.
TSC employed around 1500 headteachers and principals on a contractual basis in 2020 after reaching the mandatory retirement age.
TSC Chief Executive Officer Dr Nancy Macharia revealed that the school heads are set to be released to allow the commission to execute fresh recruitment.
This is set to happen amid the extension of contracts of around 569 school heads until 2022 at the latest.
The move to hire school heads on a contractual basis was defended in Parliament whereby the TSC CEO Dr Nancy Macharia said that it was impossible for the Commission to conduct interviews and manage the transition of heads of institutions amid the global COVID-19 pandemic as well as the protocols put in place by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
According to the TSC Boss, the Commission is not bound by the provisions of the Public Service Commission Act and being an independent Commission, the terms and conditions of service for TSC employees are guided by the Constitution, the TSC Act, the Employment Act and the Code of Regulations for Teachers (CORT).
Dr Macharia revealed that no funds will be required for their post-retirement remuneration since the teachers had not been replaced. They will receive their pension up to the date of compulsory retirement and service gratuity for the contract period.
However, Macharia did reveal that recruitment could be done in a bid to replace school heads whose contracts end this July.
In September 2021, TSC advertise for the recruitment of school administrators for both primary and secondary schools and teacher training colleges and even field officers.
Among the positions that were advised for were Principal, Deputy Principal II and II, Curriculum Support Officer I and II, Senior Lecturer I and II, Senior Master II, III and IV, Secondary Teacher I and II, Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher I and II, Senior Teacher I and II and Primary Teacher I.
The applicants were required to upload the following documents in order to be allowed to attend interviews for the advertised positions.
- Letter of appointment to the current grade
- Tax compliance certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)
- Clearance certificate from a Credit Reference Bureau (CRB)
- Clearance application from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission
- Clearance certificate from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
- Certificate of good conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations
- Letter of appointment to the current responsibility.