The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has dispatched the first batch of teacher promotion letters to various counties to allow deployment of promoted teachers to schools.

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

TSC County and Sub County Directors will initiate posting of the teachers to various schools with vacancies.

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

The MPs had raised queries 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.

TSC is also rolling out plan to develop promotion guidelines that will clearly outline standardised criteria and procedures.

Macharia, informed the National Assembly Committee on Education that the new framework would ensure a fair, transparent, and accountable promotion process.

This announcement follows concerns over the recent promotion of 5,291 teachers who had not served the mandatory three years in their current grades, as stipulated in the Career Progression Guidelines.

Dr Macharia explained that the three-year requirement had been waived in some cases to promote fairness and address historical staffing challenges, including acting appointments and underrepresentation in marginalised regions.

She noted that an analysis conducted by the Commission prior to advertising promotion vacancies revealed a shortage of qualified applicants in specific counties.

For instance, in the case of Grade D3 (Principal), there were insufficient teachers in Grade D2 who had served the requisite three years. As a result, the experience requirement was reduced to six months nationwide.

Similarly, for the Deputy Principal III (D1) position, the requirement was waived for 18 counties including Migori, Narok, Busia, and Mandera.

In response to criticism from MPs, who claimed the process was biased, the TSC was given seven days to provide a comprehensive report.

Dr Macharia also revealed plans to automate the promotion process via the teachers’ online system, allowing for digital applications, shortlisting, interview feedback, and issuance of promotion letters.

This, she said, would eliminate human error and improve transparency.

The Commission has also introduced a standardised interview scoring system, considering factors such as performance appraisals, leadership experience, age, and academic contribution.

Additionally, a predictable promotion policy now allows automatic progression for teachers in common cadre grades, provided they meet the three-year service requirement and maintain satisfactory performance.

The TSC further committed to progressive promotion in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), where many teachers serve in lower grades while performing administrative roles, without appropriate recognition or allowances.

The Commission aims to align these teachers’ grades with their responsibilities through affirmative action measures.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has dispatched the first batch of teacher promotion letters to various counties to allow deployment of promoted teachers to schools.

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

TSC County and Sub County Directors will initiate posting of the teachers to various schools with vacancies.

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

The MPs had raised queries 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.

TSC is also rolling out plan to develop promotion guidelines that will clearly outline standardised criteria and procedures.

Macharia, informed the National Assembly Committee on Education that the new framework would ensure a fair, transparent, and accountable promotion process.

This announcement follows concerns over the recent promotion of 5,291 teachers who had not served the mandatory three years in their current grades, as stipulated in the Career Progression Guidelines.

Dr Macharia explained that the three-year requirement had been waived in some cases to promote fairness and address historical staffing challenges, including acting appointments and underrepresentation in marginalised regions.

She noted that an analysis conducted by the Commission prior to advertising promotion vacancies revealed a shortage of qualified applicants in specific counties.

For instance, in the case of Grade D3 (Principal), there were insufficient teachers in Grade D2 who had served the requisite three years. As a result, the experience requirement was reduced to six months nationwide.

Similarly, for the Deputy Principal III (D1) position, the requirement was waived for 18 counties including Migori, Narok, Busia, and Mandera.

In response to criticism from MPs, who claimed the process was biased, the TSC was given seven days to provide a comprehensive report.

Dr Macharia also revealed plans to automate the promotion process via the teachers’ online system, allowing for digital applications, shortlisting, interview feedback, and issuance of promotion letters.

This, she said, would eliminate human error and improve transparency.

The Commission has also introduced a standardised interview scoring system, considering factors such as performance appraisals, leadership experience, age, and academic contribution.

Additionally, a predictable promotion policy now allows automatic progression for teachers in common cadre grades, provided they meet the three-year service requirement and maintain satisfactory performance.

The TSC further committed to progressive promotion in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), where many teachers serve in lower grades while performing administrative roles, without appropriate recognition or allowances.

The Commission aims to align these teachers’ grades with their responsibilities through affirmative action measures.