Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) across the country have expressed renewed optimism following an admission by the acting Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO that they play a crucial role in the commission’s operations and deserve to be promoted.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Education Committee on Thursday, June 19, Acting TSC CEO Evleen Mitei assured the committee that plans are underway to promote qualified CSOs.
Her remarks were welcomed by officers who have long felt overlooked in the commission’s promotion structures.
Upon receiving the news about the committee’s proceedings and the TSC acting CEO, several CSOs from various counties expressed their appreciation to the committee chair, Julius Melly, for empathising with them.
“The committee led by hon Melly is working around the clock to ensure that promotions at TSC are more transparent and equitable to avoid discontent in the education sector. As CSOs, we feel shortchanged for long on matters of promotion,” said one CSO from Murang’a county.
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However, some COSs wanted clarification over what the acting CEO termed as plans to promote ‘deserving’ officers.
Most of the Cos wondered whether there were an undeserving group amongst them.
Curriculum Support Officers for Special Needs Education (CSOs-SNE) have been advocating for adequate facilitation to enable them to effectively move across various zones and sub-counties in the course of their duties.
“They have requested a promotion after a prolonged period of stagnation, amid an array of challenges they face in fulfilling their teacher management duties. So, there should be a blanket promotion for all of them,” quipped Fatuma from the Coast region.
During the recently concluded audit exercise on selected counties by officers from TSC headquarters, CSOs raised concerns over what they termed a hindrance to the effective implementation of the commission’s vision and mission in the field.
Among the issues raised were pro motion, facilitation on airtime and movement in their areas of operations, a lack of ICT gadgets to collect, collate, and forward crucial data, a lack of a performance contract module, incorrect coding, and a lack of an online system that would assist them in accessing essential services.
As the new financial year begins in July, the commission’s services are optimistic about a new beginning that will breathe both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation into them.
By Naboth Murunga.
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