- TSC should give teachers who missed promotion interviews due to illness, bereavement or emergencies another opportunity to be interviewed.
- TSC has been urged to create a verified rescheduling process, arguing that genuine cases should not cost teachers an entire year of career progression.
The ongoing promotion interviews for primary school teachers are coming to an end tomorrow, but as the exercise draws to a close, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should pause and consider the plight of teachers who could not attend their interviews due to unavoidable circumstances. For some, illness kept them away; for others, bereavement or other emergencies made it impossible to appear before the interview panels. These teachers should not be condemned to wait for another year simply because life presented them with circumstances beyond their control.
There are reports from the North Rift that some teachers who missed their interviews because they were sick or had lost loved ones were allegedly told to “try their chances next year.” If confirmed, such a response would be deeply disappointing and would raise serious questions about compassion and fairness in the promotion process.
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A teacher is a human being before being a professional. They fall sick, they lose family members, and they face emergencies just like everyone else. Missing an interview under such circumstances should not automatically translate into losing an entire year of career progression. Promotion interviews are not a small matter; they determine career advancement, professional recognition and, in many cases, improved remuneration. For a teacher who has served diligently for years, being denied the opportunity to compete for promotion because of an unavoidable absence can be a devastating blow.
The TSC should therefore consider creating an opportunity for teachers with genuine and verifiable reasons for missing the interviews to be interviewed at a later date. Such an arrangement would not compromise the integrity of the process; instead, it would demonstrate that the Commission understands the realities faced by the very teachers it serves. Of course, there must be safeguards to prevent abuse. Teachers should provide reasonable evidence to support claims of illness, bereavement or other emergencies, but genuine cases should be treated with understanding rather than being brushed aside with a blanket instruction to wait until next year.
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The reports from the North Rift deserve attention. If teachers who were hospitalised, mourning their loved ones or facing other genuine emergencies were turned away without any alternative arrangement, TSC should urgently review those cases. A missed interview should not become a missed year when the absence was beyond a teacher’s control.
TSC has an opportunity to demonstrate that fairness and compassion can coexist with professionalism. Giving affected teachers another chance would not be a favour; it would be a reasonable and humane approach to an otherwise important career progression exercise. Teachers have devoted years to educating the nation’s children, and when circumstances beyond their control prevent them from attending an interview, the system should not close the door on them. TSC should listen to their plight, review genuine cases and give deserving teachers another chance.
By Ben Chepchieng
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