- Headteachers have questioned why they should undergo fresh competitive interviews after years of service, noting that their salary points have already progressed to the next job group.
- Teachers currently serving in C1 will begin appearing before the panels in the coming days.
Prolonged career stagnation among primary school headteachers is emerging as a major talking point in ongoing Teachers Service Commission (TSC) interviews, with some school leaders revealing they have remained in the same job group for nearly nine years.
Education News has established from the ongoing interviews that stagnation among headteachers for close to nine years is real, with most of those interviewed expressing frustration over what they describe as prolonged delays in career progression. The concern is expected to grow even more in the coming days, when teachers currently serving in C1 begin streaming in for the same interviews, likely bringing renewed attention to stagnation and the long wait for career advancement within the teaching service.
For some headteachers who have already appeared before the interview panels, the question is not whether they are qualified to take up higher responsibilities, but why they should undergo another competitive interview after remaining in the same grade for so many years. Most of the interviewed headteachers were of the view that there was little justification for subjecting them to interviews when they had already spent years in the same job group while continuing to discharge leadership responsibilities. “Already our salary points have gone to the next job group. Why then subject us to all these?” one headteacher questioned.
ALSO READ:
Banditry disrupts learning along Turkana-West Pokot border as enrolment plunges
The sentiments reflect growing frustration among school administrators who feel that their years of experience and service should be taken into consideration when determining career progression. Headteachers carry significant responsibilities in the management of schools, apart from supervising teachers and learners, they oversee school programmes, manage resources, work with Boards of Management and parents, implement government policies and handle the day-to-day administrative demands of their institutions. For those who have remained in one grade since 2017, the prolonged stagnation has raised questions about whether the current promotion system adequately recognises experience and increased responsibility.
The issue also comes at a time when career progression and promotional opportunities remain a key concern among teachers across different job groups. While interviews are part of the process used to identify teachers for available promotional positions, the limited number of vacancies compared with the number of eligible teachers has continued to generate debate. The arrival of C1 teachers for the interviews in the coming days could therefore provide another important indicator of the extent of stagnation within the teaching service.
ALSO READ: Saboti MP takes bursary cheques to polling stations to support needy students
For many teachers, the hope is that career progression will become more predictable and that years of experience will carry greater weight in determining promotion opportunities. As the interviews continue, the question being raised by many headteachers is straightforward: should a teacher who has stagnated for almost a decade in one job group still be required to compete through another interview for career progression? The debate is likely to continue as more teachers appear before the panels in the coming days.
By Edwin Jemenya
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
