The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has taken the first step to make junior secondary schools (JSS) independent institutions.
In a trickle down order, the Commission has directed immediate appointment of one junior school teacher to act as Deputy Principal of junior school section.
The County and Sub County Directors have been tasked to ensure each primary school hosting junior school has a Deputy for junior school in acting capacity and the name forwarded to the Commission headquarters.
This comes just days after the JSS teachers pushed for autonomy of the institutions which are currently being hosted inside primary schools.
However a junior school teacher must be on a permanent and pensionable (pnp) basis to qualify to act as Deputy Principal.
Currently the primary school headteachers are acting Principals in junior schools. TSC gave them one year contract to act that runs from 1st January to 31st December 2025.
This move is highly welcomed by the junior school teacher who have persistently demanded independence from primary school management.
Often times the teachers have collided with primary school headteachers who they accuse of high handedness, corruption and incompetency in management.
A significant number of JSS teachers have been dragged to Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) and Sub County Directors offices for violating code of conduct for teachers.
However the teachers have cited these moves as mere intimidations to muzzle them from calling out bad management by the school administrators.
Though the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) proposed combining Nursery, Primary and Junior schools into one institution called Comprehensive school this was not adopted.
Ministry of Education officials have often times warned schools against naming them as Comprehensive saying this is still a proposal and not to be used officially.
There are fears the government is shying away from making junior schools independent because of the huge cost that it will come with.
The independent institutions will need independent infrastructures and school administrators which is a toll order for government that is struggling to pay external debts.
Two weeks ago both the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and junior school teachers protested wanting the new learning level granted full autonomy, separate from primary and senior schools.
The Kenya Association of Junior School Teachers (KAJST), Kuppet and the more than 50,000 tutors are demanding administrative independence and recognition of junior school as its own tier in the education system.
The association argues that the current arrangement, which places the institutions under the primary school administrative structure, undermines the professional growth and career development of junior school teachers.
“A good example is promotions. How can a headteacher, deputy head teacher or senior teacher-who does not even qualify to teach in junior school-supervise junior school teachers?” asked association chairperson James Odhiambo.
He noted that most primary school administrators, including headteachers, lack the qualifications to teach or fully understand the needs of junior school learners and teachers.
Kuppet Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima questioned the legitimacy of the “comprehensive school” model.
“Kenyan education law only recognises pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. So, where is the ministry getting the term ‘comprehensive school’? Under the Competency-Based Curriculum, junior school is meant to be part of high school-or at the very least, operate distinctly from primary level,” he said.
He further argued that junior schools should have independent management structures and be staffed exclusively by teachers trained for secondary education.
“When graduate teachers are subjected to supervision by P1 (primary-level) teachers, it contradicts their legitimate professional expectations. These teachers trained with the understanding that they would work alongside their peers in secondary schools,” he said.
In response, Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Collins Oyuu urged junior school teachers to respect the recommendations of the education task force.
“Do you know that 90 per cent of our head teachers are graduates? Many were graduates long before some of these teachers even entered the profession. In leadership, qualifications alone don’t count, experience does. Do they even have leadership experience?” he asked.
Mr Oyuu dismissed the push for junior school autonomy as a settled matter, citing recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
He said the task force clearly defined two sections within Basic Education: Comprehensive school (Grades 1-9) and Senior school (Grades 10-12).
“Let’s stop making wild proposals. They are teachers and professionals; they should avoid activism,” he said.
The association vowed to continue pushing for autonomy, saying it will keep engaging policymakers, education stakeholders and the public until junior school is recognised as a distinct level of education.
A welcome move
The tsc should come out clearly… The first js teacher who reported in the station first should immediately be confirmed as acting Js hoi as long as he/she is a graduate…
Fairness is needed, the point is clear, we’ve Js teachers who were posted in the station at first… Those are the trs that should be put into high consideration… We are sure if this isn’t done the process won’t be fair… For instance these pioneer trs did a lot at least that’s a way of motivating them… We ask tsc to be clear.. About it
This is what will make Mr. president the two term president
Some posts though! First JS teacher in some cases, most of them was an intern. Second was a deployed one, likely to have been deployed after more than five years after graduation. Who is more qualified in this case?
The first teacher to be posted in the school as a pioneer should be given a chance
As a headteschet and with all the experience and expertise I have the Juniors should learn their place and stop being in a vacuum like their -the Gen zs.
Every School RECEIVED a Js Teacher on february 2023 on Pnp those guys qualify for those positions immmediately
Every School RECEIVED a Js Teacher on february 2023 on Pnp those guys qualify for those positions immmediately
Every School RECEIVED a Js Teacher on february 2023 on Pnp those guys qualify for those positions immmediately
Every school received a js tr on February 2023 by now every school have a pnp js tr employed under pnp terms… So they are capable of acting DHOIS… Deployed trs are same to those HOIS and we won’t accept them… We want new trs who were send by the govt to js feb 2023….serikali itatafutia deployed trs position zao in future… We can’t agree them for now… I guess that February cohort really helped in ushering in the new system of education in Js and they’re faced a lot of challenges… Let be known even if some started as interns doesn’t mean they’re failures in fact such trs helped alot and we can’t compromise that….. Tsc be clear and say every first teacher who reported as js teacher in February be given a chance… Where a school received two let them agree and one be given the chance
The first js teacher deserves that chance..these people suffered alot and later showed the way to the rest….the current HOIs might be biased…the TSC should appoint them by themselves
The criteria of choosing a jss teacher to act as a deputy should be based on seniority and experience.Good God bless you
Some J’s teachers who were posted first stayed for only a month and went for maternity leave.Some of us deployed to J’s were in school throughout even when interns were on strike only for them to act as deputies.Something is not adding up
What is the fate of deployed teachers because it’s like all the opportunities are blocked.Some are at job group C3 and the acting deputy is at C1.Tafakarini hayo
Take it from me, the jss teachers who were employed by tsc on February 2023 calling themselves first jss teachers are just very selfish, when the second cohort qualified p1 teachers with bed arts was deployed they were not happy about it, because they saw we are organised, experienced, knowledgeable on cbe skills some having roles of curriculum coordinators and administrative duties being not new to us they saw competition was higher in the field contrary to their expectations . initially they knew that they were the best, later they came to learn that P1 teachers deployed in march 2023 had trained to become cbe teachers and some are even champions and tots in the field, moguls know very well by now these teachers know cbe better and can favourably compete for deputy principals position in jss, it’s therefore for the role of tsc to give clear guidelines on the appointment and also consider the following
1. Age
2 experience
3.curriculum coordinators, who have been in that position for long
4.p1 teachers who were deployed in 2023 having all the skills for cbe
From primary to secondary level
5. Champions of cbe etc
Let tsc not just listen to moguls who just want discrimination of others in their favour, they lack professionalism
Professionalism is a key element that every teacher should possess, the way you talk ,, respect for those in office as you address your issues ,how you relate with others etc , moguls ego is too high they feel like they are the best professionals in the field which is not true to their thinking