Teachers Unions have raised concerns over recent omission of certain grades in the promotion interviews carried by Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) noted that teachers in D4 have been denied opportunity to upgrade.
The Unions argue that despite these teachers having qualified for the next position, the omission has created gap in the administrative and denied Grade D4 teachers chance to upgrade, thus leading to stagnation in lower grades.
The Unions are now pursuing accountability and transparency in the promotion process by collecting data in order to fully address the issues raised by teachers who feel unfairly excluded from the whole promotion process.
Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori highlighted the challenges faced by teachers as they climb the professional ladder and recognition by the system. He further said the impact of promotion issues affect teachers morale and productivity.
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“Out of frustration, some teachers prefer early retirement instead of being frustrated by the stagnation in the system,” he stated.
He added the issue extends to Grade D5, with Grade D4 being denied the chance to progress. The Unions also raised concern whereby deputy principals assume the principal roles for extended period leading to frustration.
The unions further lamented that deputies who have been acting as principals for a period of more than six months, many end up going back to their previous duties after new principals have been posted.
Former job group L, which created two job groups of C3 and C4, was also criticised by Misori asserting that it has contributed to delay in teachers’ progression.
Misori also stated that moving a teacher from C3 to C4 only serves to delay the teacher within the job group, disrupting the traditional progression from job Group L and M.
Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu also expressed dissatisfaction with the merit list published by teachers’ employer recently. He further questioned the commission’s unwillingness to provide real names against TSC numbers published for audit purposes highlighting the lack of transparency in the criteria used for promotions.
He emphasized on the need of transparency in the promotion process. The unions also stressed on the importance of collecting data on teachers who have not received deserved promotions citing numerous complaints from teachers who felt unfairly excluded from the recent promotion process.
By Brian Ndigo
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