The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will not revoke the teacher promotion list it released last month following interviews done in January and February this year.
Top TSC officials have revealed that nothing will change despite both houses, Parliament and Senate, intensifying probe on the recent promotions.
The officials have hinted that listed teachers will start receiving their appointment letters this week.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) had raised concern regarding the transparency and fairness of the promotion process.
Some legislatures accused TSC of biasness after it emerged some teachers who were promoted last year appeared again in this years promotion list.
Last week the Senate weighed in by launching a comprehensive investigation due to widespread allegations of unfair teacher promotions.
In a debate, the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Betty Montet, accused the commission of corruption and demanded a detailed explanation regarding the selection of 25,252 teachers for promotion nationwide.
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka questioned whether the TSC had adhered to merit, fairness, and inclusivity principles.
He stated, “The Education Committee must inquire and report to this House why long-serving teachers with higher academic qualifications and experienced graduates were either overlooked while younger teachers with fewer qualifications and less experience were promoted, and if so, what the justification for this was.”
Onyonka also pressed the commission to clarify the distribution model, particularly questioning why densely populated counties with more teachers received disproportionately fewer promotions.
The Senate’s demand for answers comes amid growing discontent among MPs, who previously complained that the promotion exercise appeared biased, favoring certain regions over others.
Senators are now voicing similar frustrations and pushing for a thorough investigation.
Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri did not hold back, accusing some TSC officials of soliciting bribes from teachers seeking career advancement.
“In the just-concluded exercise, we have teachers who have been in service for over 17 years but were not promoted. On the other hand, we have teachers who have served for just one year and were promoted. How can that be explained?” Okenyuri asked.
Okenyuri went on to describe the TSC leadership as “corrupt to the core” and called for a complete overhaul to restore integrity within the commission.
Senators also demanded that the TSC clarify whether an appeal mechanism exists for aggrieved teachers and disclose the number of complaints lodged and resolved.
They emphasized that handling these grievances transparently is crucial for restoring trust among teachers.
The committee is expected to summon TSC officials and demand explanations regarding how the promotion exercise was conducted and the measures being taken to address the ongoing issue of career stagnation.
The widespread dissatisfaction among lawmakers indicates a significant crisis of confidence in the TSC’s management.
However when TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia appeared before the National Assembly Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) chaired by Hon. Eric Karemba (Runyenjes), said the Commission is unable to promote sufficient number of teachers due to inadequate funding.
She was presenting a report on the Commission’s progress in fulfilling its constitutional mandate and the challenges hindering effective service deliver
Macharia warned of a looming education crisis occasioned by inadequate budgetary allocation for the promotion and deployment of teachers across the country.
Dr. Macharia noted that although the government currently allocates sh.1 billion annually for teacher promotions, the amount is insufficient to cater to the growing number of eligible teachers.
“Honourable Members, while we are grateful for the Kshs.1 billion allocated towards teacher promotions, the amount is only sufficient to promote 6,000 teachers out of a teaching force of over 500,000. This continues to demoralize deserving teachers and affect service delivery in our schools,” Dr. Macharia stated.
Macharia said TSC needs sh5 billion annually to promote teachers and effectively avoid stagnation
She was responding after the lawmakers raised concerns on teacher promotion challenges.
The Commission has been receiving a budget of sh 1 billion each year for promoting teachers which Macharia termed as a drop in the ocean.
“With only one billion shillings, we can promote just 6,000 teachers. We need five billion annually to fully address stagnation,” said Macharia.
In 2024 TSC promoted a total of 19,943 after it was allocated sh 1 billion in 2023 – 2024 financial budget.
This year TSC listed 25,252 teachers who were successfully promoted after attending interviews in January and February.
The teachers will be issued with appointment letters before being posted to schools with vacancies.
MPs pressed further on the issue of equity in promotions and the unclear criteria used with reports of some constituencies receiving as few as five promotions.
“We had only five teachers promoted out of 25,000. If divided equally across the 290 constituencies, we should have gotten at least 80,” argued Tiaty MP William Kamket.
Despite the grilling, the Commission said it continues to work within its constraints and remains committed to improving teacher welfare across the country.
The TSC says the promotion bottleneck, staffing imbalance stem from inadequate funding and called on Parliament to review policies to allow for more sustainable planning.
Very corrupt.i know a reacher in a station who didn’t go through interview last year but got D2 and now another letter had been dishedvto her and is now in D3.what is this.mere corruption may God deal with them
It’s shameful for legislators to criticize promotion after the list is out this is a deligated responsibility of TSC and if they needed to see it they should have done that earlier before it went public for teachers themselves to confirm their names. Do they want to take the promotion to themselves is when it shall be transparent. It’s the KNUT and KUPPET registered to advocate for teachers if anything. MPs are above this. They should focus on more important fields. They should not look at promotion of teachers only but those of policemen and defence forces if this the case.
Have they started issuing the letters
It was fair promotion ever
P
tsc to exercise their mandate and shun political influence.Instead,ask mps lobby for more funds to meet the demands of promotions in future.
I think parliament is offer stepping on the constitutional rights of the commission, if the list is already out let trs get their promotion letters,my advice to these mps let them allocate enough money to tsc to promote more trs cuz we have very many trs who have stagnated in one job group for long.
If politicians talk about stagnated teachers they didn’t see all those areas had high marks. And this was not the only parameters used. Age and length in one grade were well catered for and elderly teachers well considered
This promotion was very fair and just, I received mine after stagnating for years. I did not bribe anybody neither did I see such malpractice at the interview center kongoni, Likuyani subcounty, kakamega county.
Very unfair , I’m retiring next month after serving TSC for 36 years,a graduate only C2.I applied for these interviews and was not shortlisted while some applied after 6 months and have been promoted.
Very unfair , I’m retiring next month after serving TSC for 36 years,a graduate only C2.I applied for these interviews and was not shortlisted while some applied after 6 months and have been promoted.
The exercise was done fairly i receiced mine thank God after stagnating for many years it was a miracle ad i never bribed any body