The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will make major changes before releasing a new teacher recruitment advertisement following the previous cancellation. There are 14,738 advertising vacancies in the ad.
The council has appeared before the National Assembly’s Education and Research Committee twice in the past two weeks.
Lawmakers are unhappy with the commission’s failure to promote teachers who have been stuck in the same job for years.
Kenya Union of Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) chairman Omboko Milemba supports the abolition and asked the TSC to increase the number of vacancies.
He also said that most deserving teachers would be let go. He called the plan an insult to teachers, especially those in job groups C2, C3 and C4.
“Good people are not the target of advertising. This is the teacher of the work group C3 and C4. This is a drop in the ocean,” said Mr. Milemba.
Why TSC created two positions of Senior Lecturer namely C2 and C3 and Senior Lecturer II and I.
Senior teachers in the C2 task force also said the move to C3 was a big step. Teachers must work at C2 for at least three years before being considered for promotion to C3.
Some of the remaining elementary school teachers, such as B5 and C1, said that up to the C2 work group should be automatic.
Vacancies advertised are due to retirement, resignation or death. Many teachers hold managerial positions in their acting capacities.
Mr Milemba accused the commission of not promoting teachers, thereby losing profits.
He said his office is working on data to determine the problem and what teachers owe. That puts the figure at over Sh1 billion.
“This is a surprise bill. This is labor exploitation by TSC and Govt. I have asked the question in the House, but I checked with my office staff to back up the numbers. If it is not controlled, promotion will not be possible,” he said.
Nairobi Cuppet Division secretary general, Musa Mbora, says standing for long periods in the same classroom has made teachers redundant.
“Class C3 is the busiest place for teachers. Directors are promoted to D4, but many directors deserve to be promoted to D3. In April, an interview was held with the directors to move up to class D4, but nothing happened. We have seen other advertisements and the position is not mentioned,” said Mbora.
He added that having too many directors and CEOs and not promoting MPs would lead to a succession crisis.
Mbora said standing on the job board denied teachers benefits such as advanced medical coverage.
“That way teachers lose their pension which is better than their basic salary,” said Mbora.
The TSC is calling for the removal of the career development guidelines used by the TSC to encourage teachers and return to the service plan.
When the commissioner’s staff appeared before the Education Committee, it was difficult to explain why the position did not take place.
“The council has not been given additional budget allocation for teacher promotion in the past 10 years except for July 2017,” he said.
“Professional development guidelines hurt teachers. There are many monthly points,” he said