Commissioners and top management staff at Teachers Service Commission (TSC) have started reviewing and validating the draft copy of the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) which was developed for secretariat staff in 2018.
Sometime last year, the commission sent out circulars to secretariat field officers and staff at the headquarters asking them to provide views regarding the draft secretariat CPG.
It is believed that both the commissioners and the top management spent the better part of the last week of March 2023 carrying out the exercise, which will see the new pay structure being rolled out in a move that is meant to mitigate issues of stagnation at the secretariat. There has been a lot of discomfort among the secretariat staff both at the headquarters and in the counties over lack of a clear career progression structure, with suspicion that teachers and other professionals earn more since they have clear career progression guidelines that were launched in 2018.
The county teacher management officers, in particular sub-county directors, are the most affected lot, with Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) not knowing where they exactly fall since as per the current structure, they are neither teachers nor secretariat staff.
Most CSOs are appointed at Grade C5 for the case of head teachers and D1 for secondary school CSOs, who are Bachelor of Education degree holders, a grade equivalent to a primary school head teacher.
Recently, about 1,500 CSOs decried their stagnation in the same grade, a situation that has demoralized them considering that their colleagues who remained as classroom teachers progressed to higher grades.
According to the teachers’ CPG, the highest grade for a primary school teacher is Senior Head Teacher at D1 while the highest grade for a secondary school teacher is Chief Principal at D5.
The same has also affected about 348 TSC sub-county directors where some of them have stagnated in one job group for over 12 years – the most painful part being sitting in panels annually that oversee teachers grow and being promoted to higher ranks.
Proposed secretariat CPG In the draft copy of the proposed CPG, all members of the secretariat staff will now serve for a minimum of three years before being promoted to another grade, which will also see the CSOs being horizontally promoted to higher grades after joining the cadre if the CPG is adopted.
According to the draft document, for the CSOs who will be responsible for effective curriculum implementation in public schools, the career guidelines will establish 3 grades that will be designated and graded as CSOs at TSC Scale 9, 10 and 11.
For appointment at TSC Scale 9, an officer must have served satisfactorily at TSC Scale 8 for a minimum period of three years, have a bachelor’s degree in education or a bachelor’s degree plus a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, certificate in basic computer applications, and demonstrate merit and ability as reflected in work performance and results, among other requirements. For promotion to CSO TSC Scale 10, the guidelines note that an officer must have served satisfactorily in the grade of CSO TSC Scale 9 for a minimum period of three years or a comparable position and have a satisfactory rating in Performance Appraisal.
On the other hand, for promotion to CSO TSC Scale 11, an officer must have served satisfactorily in the equivalent of TSC Scale’ 10’ for a minimum period of three years, be a holder of a Master’s degree in a relevant field from a recognized institution, must have attended a senior management course, and have satisfactory ratings in Performance Appraisal.
County officersThe guidelines will also establish 4 grades of Teacher Management Officers at the county level, who will be designated and graded as Sub-county Director at TSC Scale 10, Deputy County Director at TSC Scale 11, County Director at TSC Scale 12, and Regional Coordinator at TSC Scale 13. For appointment to Sub-county Director-TSC Scale 10, the proposed guidelines state that an officer must have served satisfactorily in the grade of Chief Teacher Management Officer or a comparable position, TSC Scale ‘9’ for a minimum period of 3 years or a comparable position, and have satisfactory ratings in Performance Appraisal.
The sub-county directors are responsible for the provision of leadership in the implementation of strategies and structures in regard to teacher management at the sub – county level.
Deputy County Director – TSC Scale 11 will require one to have served as Principal Teacher Management Officer or in a comparable position, and TSC Scale ‘10’ for a minimum period of three years or in a comparable position. This cadre in the secretariat normally deputize the county director and are responsible for the provision of leadership in the development and implementation of strategies and structures as regards teacher management within the county.To be appointed as County Director – TSC Scale 12, one will be required to have served satisfactorily in the grade of Assistant Deputy Director, TSC Scale ‘11’ for a minimum period of three years or in a comparable position.
Further, the officer must have a satisfactory rating in Performance Appraisal, attended a senior management course, and met the requirements of chapter 6 of the Constitution.
By Education News reporter
Get more stories from our website: Education News
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
