A total of 23,388 teachers will start to receive their promotion letters next week.

This is after the National Assembly Committee on Education chaired by Tinderet Member of Parliament Julius Melly cleared Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to promote this number.

This is however short of 25,252 teachers the Commission had sought to promote following interviews done in January and February.

The MPs had raised weighty issues after it emerged a total of 5,291 teachers were unfairly promoted as they did not meet the minimum three year requirement inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).

The legislatures heaped a myriad of accusations on TSC promotions terming them biased and discriminatory.

Among the accusations included promotion of teachers to next grade before completion of three years inline with CPG, discrimination where some junior teachers were promoted while others who served for longer periods left, some counties and regions getting more promotion slots than others.

In a status report addressed to the Education Committee on 27th May, TSC indicated that a total of 1,864 teachers were removed from the initial promotion list that was published early in April in compliance with the Committees resolution.

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia said the teachers were dropped because they did not meet the minimum three year requirement inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.

“In compliance with the Committees recommendations, the balance of 1,864 teachers who were promoted but have not met the requisite three year requirement has been removed from the promotion list,” said Macharia.

“In compliance with the Committees resolutions, the vacancies created from the above have been redistributed proportionally across the country based on the number of interviewed applicants,” she added.

She however noted that in filling the vacancies priority was given to teachers who have served for seven years in one grade and have three years to retire from service.

The commission said 5,291 teachers were promoted despite not meeting the three-year threshold.

Most of them took up principal and deputy headteacher roles, where the number of eligible candidates fell short of demand.

“In the just concluded promotion exercise, the number of teachers who had met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades fell significantly short of the number of vacancies,” said the commission in a statement dated May 22.

The move comes after the National Assembly allocated Sh1 billion to support promotions, which covered only 5,690 of the 25,252 vacancies.

According to the commission, a total of 1,410 teachers were promoted to principal roles under Grade D3, while 3,686 were appointed as deputy headteachers under Grade C4.

The commission said only 598 teachers had served long enough to qualify for the 1,410 principal vacancies, while 7,460 qualified for the 3,686 deputy headteacher posts.

To address the shortfall, the commission temporarily lowered the requirement to six months of service in one grade.

TSC explained that the waiver aimed to attract more applicants and address a long-standing issue of teachers working in acting positions.

 “This policy decision helped ensure that the vacancies were competitively filled, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where recruitment and retention have been difficult,” said the commission.

 Out of the 5,291 teachers promoted without the three-year service, 3,427 were placed in the key administrative grades of principal and deputy headteacher.

 The commission requested that all teachers promoted under the temporary measure be retained, stating that the waiver had been essential to filling critical staffing gaps.

Looking ahead, the commission said it would develop and publicise standardised promotion guidelines, following public participation with teachers, unions and other stakeholders.

The new framework will also comply with constitutional principles including equity, inclusiveness and non-discrimination.

 “The commission remains committed to ensuring fair and accountable processes in future promotions,” said the statement.

However despite its defense only promotion of 23,388 teachers have been upheld by the Education Committee.

A total of 23,388 teachers will start to receive their promotion letters next week.

This is after the National Assembly Committee on Education chaired by Tinderet Member of Parliament Julius Melly cleared Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to promote this number.

This is however short of 25,252 teachers the Commission had sought to promote following interviews done in January and February.

The MPs had raised weighty issues after it emerged a total of 5,291 teachers were unfairly promoted as they did not meet the minimum three year requirement inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).

The legislatures heaped a myriad of accusations on TSC promotions terming them biased and discriminatory.

Among the accusations included promotion of teachers to next grade before completion of three years inline with CPG, discrimination where some junior teachers were promoted while others who served for longer periods left, some counties and regions getting more promotion slots than others.

In a status report addressed to the Education Committee on 27th May, TSC indicated that a total of 1,864 teachers were removed from the initial promotion list that was published early in April in compliance with the Committees resolution.

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia said the teachers were dropped because they did not meet the minimum three year requirement inline with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.

“In compliance with the Committees recommendations, the balance of 1,864 teachers who were promoted but have not met the requisite three year requirement has been removed from the promotion list,” said Macharia.

“In compliance with the Committees resolutions, the vacancies created from the above have been redistributed proportionally across the country based on the number of interviewed applicants,” she added.

She however noted that in filling the vacancies priority was given to teachers who have served for seven years in one grade and have three years to retire from service.

The commission said 5,291 teachers were promoted despite not meeting the three-year threshold.

Most of them took up principal and deputy headteacher roles, where the number of eligible candidates fell short of demand.

“In the just concluded promotion exercise, the number of teachers who had met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades fell significantly short of the number of vacancies,” said the commission in a statement dated May 22.

The move comes after the National Assembly allocated Sh1 billion to support promotions, which covered only 5,690 of the 25,252 vacancies.

According to the commission, a total of 1,410 teachers were promoted to principal roles under Grade D3, while 3,686 were appointed as deputy headteachers under Grade C4.

The commission said only 598 teachers had served long enough to qualify for the 1,410 principal vacancies, while 7,460 qualified for the 3,686 deputy headteacher posts.

To address the shortfall, the commission temporarily lowered the requirement to six months of service in one grade.

TSC explained that the waiver aimed to attract more applicants and address a long-standing issue of teachers working in acting positions.

 “This policy decision helped ensure that the vacancies were competitively filled, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where recruitment and retention have been difficult,” said the commission.

 Out of the 5,291 teachers promoted without the three-year service, 3,427 were placed in the key administrative grades of principal and deputy headteacher.

 The commission requested that all teachers promoted under the temporary measure be retained, stating that the waiver had been essential to filling critical staffing gaps.

Looking ahead, the commission said it would develop and publicise standardised promotion guidelines, following public participation with teachers, unions and other stakeholders.

The new framework will also comply with constitutional principles including equity, inclusiveness and non-discrimination.

 “The commission remains committed to ensuring fair and accountable processes in future promotions,” said the statement.

However despite its defense only promotion of 23,388 teachers have been upheld by the Education Committee.