Frustrated unemployed teachers have taken to social media demanding the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to stop double standard and ensure all its staff are also local.
The teachers were reacting to TSC replacement policy that has locked most of them out despite their stellar performance in the scoresheet.
According to the replacement policy only local teachers from the sub county were employed first regardless of their qualifications before other teachers could be considered.
This has seen many unemployed teachers incurring costs including travelling many miles with zero success rate as local teachers edged them out.
The teachers now want the TSC to ensure its staff starting with Curriculum Support Officers (CSO), Human Resource Officers, Sub County Directors, County Directors to Region Directors are local and are coming from within their areas of jurisdiction.
In the replacement guidelines TSC ordered the vetting panels headed by the TSC Sub County Directors to prioritize local applicants.
“Priority should be given to local applicants. Non-local applicants can only be considered once all local applicants have been exhausted,” said TSC CEO Nancy Macharia in the guidelines.
This move automatically locked out non-local teachers despite some scoring highly in the scoresheet.
They have termed the article discriminatory which will only fuel tribalism and deny fairness.
TSC priority was in the order of local sub county, the local county then local region before considering teachers from other counties.
TSC ordered the Sub County selection panel to compile a Sub County merit list split into two. One for local applicants from the Sub County and another for no-local applicants.
TSC officials have however been defending this move saying it aims to protect the native unemployed teachers as well as minimize transfer out.
Non-local teachers are blamed for destabilizing education as they start to seek transfer out of the County immediate after their employment.
The exercise which started on 17th February has seen successful applicants filling employment forms and are now waiting for employment and posting letters from the Commission.
The posting of successful teachers to schools will start mid March and end in May.
In the replacements which is on permanent and pensionable terms TSC declared 5,862 posts for primary schools, 21 posts for junior schools and 2,824 posts for secondary schools.
A number of sub counties have completed the exercise and are compiling the final list of successful applicants which will be sent to the TSC County Directors before reaching the Commission headquarters.
A number of things played out in this year’s teacher replacement exercise. Intern teachers were allowed to apply for the advertised slots, a paradigm shift from the previous years.
The interns were also awarded 50 marks in the replacement scoresheet regardless of the period served.
A total of 20,000 JSS teachers were hired and posted to schools early January for a one year internship term.
In the recruitment there was a surge in the number of JSS teachers wanting to transition to secondary schools.
The surge in interest for secondary school jobs has been driven by dissatisfaction in working in the primary school environment.
Majority of the JSS teachers cite heavy workloads, unclear career growth, poor infrastructure and facilities and lack of motivation.
A total of 1,645 JSS intern teachers have successfully secured teaching jobs in secondary schools.
For primary school teachers the Commission awarded 5 marks to holders of PTE certificates who upgraded to UDPTE.
The Commission has listed the academic and professional documents that must be presented to the recruitment panel for verification exercise.
Applicants are required to present original and legible photocopies of the following, among other relevant documents for verification:-
List of documents required for verification for primary school teachers
1) National identification card;
2) Certificate of Registration as a teacher;
3) Evidence of the completion of Upgrade Diploma in Primary Teacher Education or UDPTE Certificate where applicable.
4) PTE Certificate;
5) KCSE certificates or its equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one resat exam);
6) KCPE certificate or it’s equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one resat exam);
7) Letter of Certification of results by KNEC (where applicable);
8) Primary and Secondary School leaving certificates and other relevant testimonials;
9) National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) Card (where applicable);
10) An Affidavit sworn under the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act, Cap 15 of the Laws of Kenya to explain the variance in names.
List of documents required for verification for post primary school teachers (JSS and Secondary)
a) National identification card;
b) Certificate of Registration as a teacher;
c) Diploma/Degree certificate and official transcripts;
d) KCSE certificates or its equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one re-sat exams);
e) KCPE certificate or its equivalent (include certificates for attempts if one re-sat exams);
f) Primary and Secondary School leaving certificates and other relevant testimonials;
g) National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) Card (where applicable);
h) An Affidavit sworn under the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act, Cap 15 of the Laws of Kenya to explain the variance in names;
i) Letter of certification of results by KNEC (where applicable).
However serving intern teachers are only required to present their identity cards during the
verification process.
Persons with disabilities shall be required to indicate their disability status together with the nature of disabilities to inform their placement;
After the verification exercise, the TSC Sub-County Director shall compile a Merit List of all applicants whose documents have been verified.
TSC said the Merit Lists shall be made available to members of the public wishing to see them on request in a manner that will not jeopardize the recruitment process and in total adherence to the Data Protection Act, 2019.
