At least four Members of Parliament (MPs) have written to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) through Dr. Nancy Macharia to stop recruitment of five teachers over what they termed as discrimination and unfairness in the recruitment exercise.
The Mps, Hon Naisula Lesuuda of Samburu West Constituency, Hon Alois Lentoimaga of Samburu North Constituency, Hon Jackson Lekumontare of Samburu East Constituency and Hon Maison Leshoomo the Women Representative in Samburu county want TSC to intervene so that fairness is done to the people of Samburu county.
The Mps further requested Dr. Nancy Macharia to immediately transfer the current TSC County Director in Samburu because “she is not serving the peple of Samburu county diligently”.
According to the Mps the recruitment slots for the county went to other counties while the residents of Samburu county are denied the chances.
According to the Mps only 29 teachers were recruited within the county and the rest unfairly given to other counties.
“The Director based at Samburu recruited 5 persons from other counties denying the locals the chance despite them having served as interns for the last two years,” said the Mps in a letter.
The teachers whose recruitment is in question are as follows;
1 Christine Mukami Thaki of TSC number 905708
2 Dennis Chemutai Simiyu of TSC number 734312
3 Geoffrey Kipkemoi of TSC number 837623
4 Kennedy Mutinda Kitonyi of TSC number 721362
5 Nzioka Stephen of TSC number 764258
According to the Mps the teachers been recruited outside the county mostly do not stay as they seek transfer immediately after entering the TSC payroll.
“The same teachers will seek transfers to their mother counties after employment which will continue bringing shortages of teachers in the county,” said the legislators.
By 30th August TSC is expected to post all newly recruited teachers to their new places of work where they will be working on permanent and pensionable terms.
The teachers will be issued with posting letters by their Sub County Directors before reporting to their new stations of work.
The posting letters will indicate the school the teacher has been posted to. The teachers will also get appointment letters from their Teachers Service Commission (TSC) county offices.
The appointment letter will state the job grade the teacher has been appointed to and the salary scale he/she will enjoy.
The newly recruited teachers will be expected to take the offer of employment within 30 days by ensuring that a casuality return is filled and submitted to the Commission headquarters.
According to the TSC recruitment roadmap this week starting Monday 9th August, 2021 to Thursday 12th August, 2021 the Commission will be receiving documents at the headquarters.
From next Friday 13th August, 2021 to Friday 27th August, 2021 TSC will carry out verification of documents it receives from their County Directors.
TSC County Directors will submit a report on status of teachers who reported or failed to report to their stations to the Commission headquarters.
TSC said the report should be submitted by 30th September, 2021.
Last month TSC advertised 5,000 vacancies in secondary schools to support the 100 percent transition from primary to secondary schools. The teachers recruited will serve on Permanent and Pensionable terms of service.
However from the 5,000 vacancies only 4,000 are for new recruits. 1,000 slots are for practicing P1 teachers with degree in Secondary option to get deployed to secondary schools.
TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia said successful candidates will be posted to serve in any part of the country and not necessarily in the county where they were recruited.
In the advert TSC further advertised a total of 3,914 replacements slots for primary and secondary schools to replace teachers who exited service.
TSC said 2,987 posts will go to primary schools while 927 will go to secondary schools.
To qualify for recruitment to secondary school, TSC said a candidate should meet the following basic requirements:
i) Be a Kenyan citizen;
ii) Must be a holder of at least a Diploma in Education;
iii) Must be a registered teacher with Teachers Service Commission.
However for practicing primary school teachers to qualify for promotion and deployment to secondary school, a candidate should meet the following basic requirements:
i) Be a Kenyan citizen;
ii) Be a holder of a P1 Certificate;
iii) Be a holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with 2 teaching subjects;
iv) Must have attained at least C+ (Plus) mean grade at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) or its equivalent and C+ (Plus) or it’s equivalent in the two teaching subjects;
v) Must be serving under Teachers Service Commission.
The recruitment was marred with complaints by some applicants. Some complained that TSC has discriminated them by releasing a score sheet that favors only a section of teachers.
Some applicants faulted TSC for awarding intern teachers 30 marks saying it wasn’t their fault not to work under intership cause the chances were limited.
In the score sheet released to guide recruitment of teachers in July 2021, TSC directed 30 marks to be awarded to applicants who will provide “evidence of internship service”.
Graduated teachers faulted TSC for putting them in the same basket with Diploma teachers.
Some Graduate teachers who scored Second Class Upper Division said TSC was wrong to award them same marks with those who scored Second Class Lower Division.
However TSC insisted the score sheet it released is final and will be used to guide the recruitment interviews.
TSC is yet to advertise internship vacancies for both primary and secondary schools. The Commission it will hire 6,000 intern teachers but only 2,000 will be for primary schools.
REVIEWED ROADMAP FOR RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS – JULY, 2021
| S/NO | ACTIVITY | TIME LINES | DURATION |
| 1. | ADVERTISE VACANT POSTS | Tuesday 29th June, 2021 | |
| 2. | VIRTUAL SENSITIZATION OF REGIONAL DIRECTORS | Friday 2nd July,2021 | 1 DAY |
| 3. | ONLINE APPLICATIONS | Tuesday 29th June, 2021– Monday 12th July, 2021 | 14 DAYS |
| 4. | COLLECTION OF EMPLOYMENT FORMS BY COUNTY DIRECTORS | Friday 16th July, 2021 | 1 DAY |
| 5. | GENERATION AND SENDING OF MERIT LISTS TO COUNTY DIRECTORS | Tuesday 13th July, 2021 – Wednesday 14th July, 2021 | 2 DAYS |
| 6. | COUNTY SELECTION PROCESS AND FILLING OF APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT FORMS BY SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES | Thursday 22nd July, 2021 – Wednesday 28th July, 2021 | 5 DAYS |
| 7 | VETTING AND HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS AT COUNTY LEVEL | Thursday 29th July, 2021 – Friday 6th August, 2021 | 7 DAYS |
| 8. | RECEIVING OF DOCUMENTS AT THE TSC HEADQUARTERS | Monday 9th August, 2021 – Thursday 12th August, 2021 | 4 DAYS |
| 9. | VERIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS AT THE TSC HEADQUARTERS | Friday 13th August, 2021 – Friday 27th August, 2021 | 8 DAYS |
| 10. | REPORTING OF TEACHERS TO SCHOOLS | Monday 30th August, 2021 | |
| 11. | COUNTY DIRECTORS TO SUBMIT REPORTING STATUS BY 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2021 | By 30th Septemberr, 2021 | |
| 12. | SUBMISSION OF EXIT REPORT TO THE CS/CEO | By 15th October, 2021 |