The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will no longer promote primary school teachers who are in job group C2 to become deputy headteachers.
According to the Commission this move will also affect teachers who are in acting capacity as deputy headteachers but still in C2.
TSC says no teacher will be allowed to skip a job group in any form of promotion under the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.
This means that a senior teacher in C2 must first go through job group C3 before becoming a deputy headteacher in C4.
Teacher acting as deputy headteachers must first be in job group C3 and serve in the same for at least three years for them to be eligible for confirmation as deputy headteachers in C4.
This week more teachers who applied for promotion to school administrator positions received their letters from their County Directors.
However those who did not meet the set criteria missed the appointments despite submitting letters as acting administrators.
Early this week TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia told MPs that despite the many promotion vacant positions existing at many levels, teachers have failed to turn up and apply for them.
Macharia said despite several appeals by the commission for qualified teachers to apply, they remain vacant.
‘‘On several occasions, we have placed advertisements in mainstream media and on social media for teachers to apply but we are not getting the needed number,’’ Dr Macharia said.
She was speaking on Tuesday when she appeared before the National Assembly Education Committee.
The TSC boss observed that early this year, the commission advertised 14,738 vacancies for the promotion of teachers to different grades to fill positions arising from exits due to natural attrition.
However, only 11,231 teachers were absorbed with 3,507 posts lacking qualified applicants. Of this, 1,021 vacancies were reserved for teachers on affirmative action.
‘‘The commission re-advertised the 3,507 unfilled vacancies in June 2023. The process of selection is currently ongoing,’’ Macharia said.
Mandera South MP Haro Abdul said TSC may have set high standards to intentionally bar teachers from applying.
‘‘Does it mean there were no teachers in the North Eastern who qualified to fill the positions advertised,’’ Abdul asked.
Dr Macharia revealed that in the last one year, some 21,071 teachers have been promoted based on common cadre promotions. She accused teachers of not being willing to apply for opportunities in other counties.
‘‘While undertaking teacher promotion, the commission faced the challenge of “promotion based localisation” in that teacher promotion is now based on the number of vacancies in a specific county,’’ she stated.
‘‘Teachers are only competing for vacancies in their own counties as they cannot be “transferred” to other counties,’’ she told MPs.
Malava MP Malulu Injendi pointed fingers at TSC saying many teachers have stagnated in the same job group even after acting for many years.
‘‘Our teachers are demoralised. At what point are teachers in job Group B5 still acting? Does it mean that the promotion of teachers is skewed?’’ Injendi said.
‘‘Give the teachers some hope by advertising more positions for permanent and pensionable positions,’’ Injendi said.
But Dr Macharia pointed fingers at the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) saying even with several sittings with them over teachers’ promotions, all have fallen on deaf ears.
She noted that even during the Junior Secondary School (JSS) transition, TSC mapped and deployed 8,367 qualified primary school teachers to teach in JSS.
‘‘We have sat with the SRC over teachers in an acting capacity and have written several reminders to them but nothing has been forthcoming. I get a lot of pressure from teachers unions and you MPs on teachers’ remunerations but my hands are tied there,’’ Dr Macharia said.
She however said, a sizable number of teachers beyond the grade of C2, especially deputies and primary school heads did not apply for deployment to JSS since they are already in higher job groups.
Woe unto the ignorant C1 teachers who are being groomed by the equally ignorant head teachers to become deputy heateachers,information is power
Primary school teachers with degrees are still waiting whereas headteacher and deputies without even a diploma are on high cadres,when will this teachers with degrees and diplomas attain those job groups?
why do they block them yet majority of schools across the country have no substantially appointed deputy headteachers?,most schools have acting deputies in B5,C1 and C2 job grades,I think teachers should just stop this nonsense of acting,If anything the poor fellows being blocked by the tsc are the ones running those schools,let us have a minute of silence in honour of all the poor teachers in C2 who are currently acting as deputy headteachers across the country,may they have the wisdom to down their tools and let the tsc appoint the right people in the right job group to do the donkey work.
Tsc I have been working as asenior teacher in job group c2 for 6 year s
This is quite unfair indeed!
When do they want these teachers to be motivated?
May God of all grace have mercy during the appointment of new CEO.
Teachers have been demoralized for a long time now.
Teach and go home philosophy, no acting,nobody move nobody get hurt,wale wanaumwa waende upperhill was report
What is the fate of C1 trs who went for interviews to be promoted to C2??
I have acted for so many years ad now a c1 meaning I can’t get promoted do I stop acting