TSC Locks Out 130,000 Teachers Out of Promotions Amid Funding Challenges
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) is requesting the teachers’ employer to promote at least 123,000 teachers who were excluded due to a cash shortage in their employer’s recent promotions.
Kuppet announced Friday that it is urging the state to grant additional funding to elevate the remaining teachers.
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“We are now pushing the government and Parliament to allocate more funds to promote the remaining teachers,” said Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori, who estimated that there were approximately 130,000 teachers left out.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) promoted around 36,000 teachers in the just-completed exercise. However, this sparked dissatisfaction among teachers.
TSC claimed a shortage of money to promote instructors, claiming that it only filled vacancies caused by natural attrition. Despite requesting Sh2.2 billion, the teacher’s employer was granted Sh1 billion for promotions in the current fiscal year.
“The problem of stagnation is real.”It has resulted in a lot of demoralized teachers in the service,” Mr. Misori said, adding that some teachers were quitting the service for lack of motivation.
In August last year, the teachers’ employer solicited applications for advancement, conducting interviews at the county level in December 2023 and January of this year.
Many teachers, who had held the same job groups for years, underwent interviews for positions in primary, secondary, and teacher education institutions.
Last week, TSC disclosed a list of 36,505 teachers who were successful in the interviews.
Last week, Collins Oyuu, Secretary-General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, requested TSC to pay arrears to promoted teachers for the period they qualified for promotion but were not allocated to new job grades.
At the same time, Kuppet stated that it was in discussions with TSC about requiring the teacher’s employer to establish the Kenya School of Teachers and Education Management to improve capacity building and professional development for educators.
Kuppet also wants the TSC to create a teacher-regulating agency to supervise the profession, as other professional bodies have.
ALSO READ: TSC Promoted Teachers to Serve Outside Sub-Counties
Mr. Misori noted that the agency’s creation is based on the Law Society of Kenya paradigm, as is the case with advocates.
He said that the constitution guaranteed the establishment of such a body.
TSC Locks Out 130,000 Teachers Out of Promotions Amid Funding Challenges
