A total of 38,000 diploma holders teaching in secondary schools will from next week battle it out for promotions.
This is after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (Kuppet) resolved Thursday to have the vacancies advertised by Tuesday so that the affected teachers can be promoted.
JOB GRADES
Kuppet said TSC will determine the number of teachers to be promoted based on duration of service, vacancies and qualifications.
The teachers who mostly fall in Job Group K now (Grade C2) and Job Group J (Grade C1) were not promoted alongside others when the Collective bargaining agreement (CBA) 2017-2021 came into effect on July 1.
A total of 29,782 teachers fall in C1 (Primary teacher I and secondary teachers II) while 19,439 fall in C2 (secondary teacher II and secondary teacher UT and Primary special need education teacher).
“This is a good gesture by TSC as it will motivate these teachers who had been ignored for long,” said Kuppet secretary-general Akelo Misori after the meeting where he was accompanied by chairman Omboko Milemba.
TSC chief executive officer Nancy Macharia and chairperson Lydia Nzomo led commission team in the meeting yesterday.
This week, TSC announced that it will promote some 6,043 tutors who fall in Grade C5 and C4 to positions of head teacher and deputy head teacher.
COURT RULING
The move comes after the Labour and Employment Relations Court made a ruling that streamlines how teachers’ promotions will be undertaken.
On Thursday, Kuppet also sought pay increase of between 30 percent and 70 percent for teachers which will mostly benefit non-administrators.
TSC and Kuppet will also retreat to sort out various issues affecting teachers in the country.
“Kuppet proposes an increase in basic salary ranging between 30 percent and 70 percent from the current minimum salary of Sh21,756 to Sh36,985 on the lower cadre. This is informed by the cost of living which has increased since 2016,” reads the proposal by the union.
However, TSC in a statement issued by Mrs Macharia did not comment on the issue of promotion of teachers.
“It was agreed that there shall be a joint retreat between TSC and Kuppet not only to evaluate the progress and gaps in the implementation of the current CBA but to also lay grounds for the next CBA,” said Mrs Macharia.
Daily Nation