- Senator Esther Okenyuri has petitioned the Senate over the alleged exclusion of JSS teachers from the TSC promotion exercise due to portal limitations.
- She has asked the Senate Committee on Education to compel TSC to explain its eligibility criteria and review both the promotion framework and online portal.
- Education stakeholders have warned that unresolved exclusion could affect the morale of teachers who embraced deployment to JSS during the CBE transition.
Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri has formally petitioned the Senate over the alleged exclusion of Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers from the ongoing Teachers Service Commission (TSC) promotion exercise, a move that could soon bring clarity to thousands of teachers on their career progression.
Okenyuri has called on the Senate Committee on Education to urgently investigate the matter, which she described as one of national importance, arguing that qualified JSS teachers should not be denied promotion opportunities because of administrative or technological shortcomings within the commission’s application system. According to the senator, teachers across the country have raised concerns that the online TSC promotion portal does not recognise their JSS deployment status, effectively locking out many eligible teachers from submitting applications despite meeting the required qualifications and experience.
The petition lands at a time of high expectations among teachers following the expansion of Junior Secondary Schools under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, which has seen thousands of teachers deployed to JSS to support the rollout of the new curriculum, making career progression one of the most pressing issues facing the profession. Okenyuri said that while teachers in primary and secondary schools can apply for promotional vacancies through the online platform, many JSS teachers have found themselves locked out because the system only recognises deployment under the traditional primary and secondary school categories, raising questions about fairness, equality and compliance with TSC’s own human resource policies.
The senator has asked the Senate Committee on Education to establish whether JSS teachers were indeed excluded from the promotion exercise, and whether the commission’s actions are consistent with its career progression guidelines and constitutional principles of equal opportunity. She also wants the committee to compel TSC to explain the eligibility criteria used for promotion, clarify whether it intends to review both the promotion framework and the online application portal, and put in place immediate measures to guarantee that no teacher is disadvantaged because of deployment decisions made by the commission itself. In her petition, Okenyuri argued that deployment to a particular level of education should never become a barrier to professional advancement, insisting that teachers who have fulfilled all promotion requirements and demonstrated good performance deserve equal consideration regardless of whether they serve in primary, junior secondary or secondary schools.
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Education stakeholders have increasingly warned that failure to address the issue could dent the morale of teachers who accepted deployment to JSS during the CBE transition. Many of the affected teachers argue that they embraced the change in good faith and have continued to shoulder the additional responsibilities that come with the new curriculum, and believe they should enjoy the same opportunities for promotion and professional development as their colleagues elsewhere in the public service.
Should the Senate Committee on Education find merit in the petition, it is expected to engage TSC directly and seek comprehensive explanations on the design of the promotion system, the eligibility criteria applied during the current exercise, and the steps being taken to eliminate any unintended barriers affecting JSS teachers. The committee may also recommend policy and administrative reforms aimed at aligning TSC’s promotion processes with constitutional principles of fairness, equality and non-discrimination.
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Education experts note that career progression remains one of the strongest drivers of teacher motivation, classroom performance and retention, and argue that human resource policies must evolve alongside the expanding CBE structure to ensure no category of teachers is left behind. The outcome of the Senate’s deliberations will be closely watched by thousands of JSS teachers, education unions, school administrators and other stakeholders, with a favourable ruling expected to pave the way for reforms that guarantee equitable promotion opportunities and strengthen confidence in TSC’s human resource systems. The Senate Committee on Education is expected to table its response after engaging the commission and reviewing the concerns raised in the petition.
By Our Reporter
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