Teachers in pain for failing to receive TSC posting letters

A number of teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in September this year are yet to receive their posting letters.

The teachers are frustrated as they watch their colleagues been posted to their new schools to start working under permanent and pensionable terms.

TSC recruited a total of 14,460 teachers last month in a bid to address shortage of teachers in public primary and secondary schools and also replace retired tutors.

However details show that a good number of teachers have not yet received their posting letters despite TSC CEO Nancy Macharia saying the letters have been released.

In her address at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi on Wednesday, October 5 during the World Teachers’ Day Celebrations, Macharia said TSC has posted all teachers recruited last month.

“The TSC has posted 14,460 new teachers who were recruited last month (September 2022) arising from the fresh recruitment, and replacement of teachers who left service through natural attrition,” said Macharia.

According to the roadmap that guided the recruitment exercise, all successful recruits were supposed to be posted to schools in early September.

During filling of employment forms it was revealed that some teachers will be posted by the end of the year.

In some counties the employment forms had a date indicating when the teacher will be posted.

Some teachers employment forms indicated they will be posted in September others in October and November and the last group in December 2022.

It usually takes TSC three months to post a teacher to a school after he/she has filled the employment form.

So far sources show that the recruits are still receiving their posting letters despite the delays. A good number of them received theirs last week.

Some teachers had resigned from employment in private schools hoping that TSC will post them early but this has just put them in awkward position as TSC delays in releasing more letters.

For primary school teachers their posting letters are found at the County Directors office while secondary school ones get them from secondary school Principals.

Primary school teachers are being posted in counties away from their home counties in a program called ‘delocalization’.

ROADMAP FOR RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS – JULY, 2022

The Commission is expected to advertise recruitment of intern teachers once all newly recruited teachers have been posted to their stations.

During her address Macharia also noted that talks are ongoing in a plan to recruit 58,000 teachers as promised by Kenya Kwanza government.

She however, did not provide the timelines for the recruitment but said teachers should expect good things going forward.

“Consultations are ongoing with the Presidency on teacher recruitment and we shall be giving (updates of the) progress as we go along. Be assured that the Kenyan teacher can only expect good things going forward. We shall be telling you how to go on with this recruitment as per the Kenya Kwanza Charter,” Dr Macharia said.

Last week President William Ruto said at least 30,000 teachers will be hired starting January next year.

The President spoke Wednesday 12th October after he officially opened the Komarock South Primary School funded by the Embakasi Central NG-CDF.

Dr. Ruto noted that this will mark the first phase of absorbing more than 116,000 teachers to bridge the existing gap in schools.

This week TSC is meeting with officials from the President side to iron out the employment and delocalization policy which are the biggest pledges of the Ruto’s government to teachers.

In the education charter signed with stakeholders in the education sector in June, Dr Ruto committed to “ensure that the current teacher shortage of 116,000 is fully bridged within two financial years by employing 58,000 teachers at a cost of Sh25 billion per year”.