The National Assembly Education Committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly has given the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) 7 days to provide detailed criteria it used to promote over 25,000 teachers.
The MPs have put TSC on spot over the list demanding for transparency and equity directing the Commission to appear again in seven days with full documentation including data on interview results recorded at the sub-county level, length of service in current positions for both promoted and non-promoted teachers and an analysis of promotions disaggregated by sub-county, ethnicity, gender, age, and disability status.
Appearing before the Committee today May 20, 2025 at Bunge Towers, TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia who was flagged by TSC Chairman Dr. Jamleck Muturi John and Director for Legal, Labour and Industrial Relations, Cavin Anyuor, the Commission in their submission to the Committee admitted that 5,291 teachers were promoted despite not meeting the standard three-year minimum in grade.
The Commission cited a lack of qualified applicants in some counties and invoked affirmative action to justify a waiver—lowering the requirement to as little as six months. “The reduction was necessary to ensure fair opportunities for teachers in all counties, especially those in marginalized and hard-to-staff areas,” explained TSC
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On affirmative action, Dr. Macharia submitted it had met gender and disability thresholds, citing 47.04 per cent of promotions going to female teachers and over 1,200 persons with disabilities (PWDs) promoted, with Dr. Muturi admitting that some job groups do not attract interest, defending that the Commission’s actions was necessary to manage staffing gaps and historical imbalances.
The Committee Members expressed dissatisfaction with the submissions made by TSC, accusing the Commission of failing to provide crucial data and disregarding equity principles in its promotion
“What this Committee and the teachers want is a comprehensive three-year promotional data set, including the list of all teachers interviewed, their scores, and interview outcomes, as well as a list of those promoted in the current cycle who were also promoted in the last three years—with data on age, gender, and ethnicity,” said Melly.
The Committee, was unconvinced with Phylis Bartoo, questioning how entire sub-counties saw nearly all their teachers promoted while others had only a few. She asked whether such disparities indicated a lack of schools or teaching staff in those regions.
By Hezron Roy
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