Nonperforming school heads and their deputies will no longer be transferred or demoted – they will be sacked. Teachers Service Commission (TSC) told the over 30,000 staff in management positions to pull up their socks or exit the service.
In the past, head teachers and deputies who posted poor results or breached the teaching code would either be demoted or transferred.
But TSC Director of Human Resource and Development Josephine Maundu yesterday said there would only be two ways of movement in the teaching service for managers – upwards or outside. “Once the commission has appointed you (to management position), you cannot step down but you can exit,” said Mrs Maundu.
New conditions
“These are substantive appointments and not deployments and it must be known as such,” said Mrs Maundu.
The new conditions are contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by teachers’ unions to cover 2016-2021. There are about 8,000 secondary schools and some 23, 000 primary schools. TSC chairperson Lydia Nzomo said all principals committed to manage their institutions and handle all other responsibilities expected of them. In her elaborate presentation, Mrs Maundu noted management functions in public schools had been expanded to five – Senior Masters, Deputy Principals, Principal, Senior Principal and Chief Principal.
“The designation of Head of Department is now obsolete and replaced by Senior Master/Mistress,” she said. She said the essence of joining administration, as Senior Masters, was to allow one to get exposed to administration of school as they progress. Maundu said the development would provide a clear path for teachers’ growth. “As one grows into their career, their level of responsibilities keeps on expanding and salary is attached to the post,” she said. The CBA facilitated categorisation of jobs taking into account equal pay for work of equal value. Under the CBA, Senior Master (III) falls under T Scale 9, Senior Master (II) under T Scale 10, while Senior Master (I) is T Scale 11. For deputy school heads, the Deputy Principal (IV) falls under T Scale 10, Deputy Principal (III) under T Scale (11), Deputy Principal (II) in T Scale 12 as Deputy Principal (I) falls under T Scale 13.
Principals are under T Scale 13 as senior principals will be under T Scale 14. Chief principals are listed under T Scale 15.
Grading structure
The new TSC grading structure spans from (B5 to D5), that is T Scale 5 to 15. The CBA established a new expanded grading structure based on the worth of each job. Teachers’ grades now range from B5, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5. Previously, teachers were graded from Job Group G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, and R. TSC further told school heads that it would no longer be simple to move from a sub-county school to a national school. Each principal will be required to grow from one category to the next. Heads will start from Sub-County/CDF Schools, progress to county schools, extra-county schools then national schools. “The commission is working hard to address concerns of school administrators in arid and semi-arid regions in Job Group L who have not been designated as school heads or deputies,” she said.
Courtesy of The Standard