The recent release of successful teachers after the December -January promotional interviews by the teacher employer generated more questions than answers.
The commission shortlisted close to 149,000 teachers for different cadre for promotion. Only about 36,000 were to be promoted.
The employer cited lack of enough funds to fully promote all the qualified teachers. Initially, there has been a clear policy by TSC that a teacher is due for promotion after finishing 3 years in a particular job group. When was the policy done away with?
Secondly, if there was a financial provision for the promotion of 36,000, why could the commission through their data promote those who had stagnated in the same job group for long rather than subjecting a whole constituency of 149,000 teachers to an interview that has now left its employees nursing unbearable frustrations?
A thorough check of the list in TSC website will tell there are a number of recently employed tutors at the expense of those who taught them. A look at the TSC promotion score guide reveals that age, years in one job group, acting as administrators and TPAD rating, among others, were to earn a teacher a winning score. Did these contributed to the success in the interview?
A comparative analysis of teacher promotion and their counterparts in other government departments leaves one wondering whether the teachers work for a lesser government. Teachers, in my view, are and will remain to be condemned in salary and promotions due to their large numbers.
Though I am not an economist, rudiments of economics will serve me right. If a teacher population like ours in Kenya is well remunerated, methinks that this will result to economic prosperity.
This is because more taxes in terms of PAYE will be deducted. Secondly, there will be an increase in village purchases and other basement financial gains as a huge number of teachers teach in the rural areas.
As a journalist, I am a product of a teacher and so are all of us. It is thus incumbent upon the TSC to come up with a more acceptable policy on teacher promotion so that we don’t see our mentors and moulders shed tears on promotion that turned sour.
And they must pay them well to grow our economy.
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By Joseph Kiptoo
The writer is a final year Medical student at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
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