TSC Under Fire as Teachers’ Union Demands Immediate Suspension of Promotions

TSC Under Fire as Teachers’ Union Demands Immediate Suspension of Promotions

The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has criticized the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for what it describes as unjust teacher promotions.

During a meeting with residents in Vihiga on Friday, March 21, KUPPET National Chairperson Omboko Milemba accused the Commission of favoritism in its promotion criteria.

Expressing his dissatisfaction with the process, Milemba urged the TSC to immediately stop the promotions, claiming that the Commission is favoring newly hired teachers over those who have served longer.

He (Milemba) questioned the promotion criteria, noting that some teachers have remained in the same job grade for as long as seven years without any advancement.

“I want the TSC to immediately cease all ongoing promotions because they are not handling the process properly. They are promoting teachers who have only been in their positions for six months,” Milemba stated.

“They are making promotions while many teachers across the country who have been waiting for six or seven years are overlooked,” he added.

While speaking at Essunza Secondary School, the Emuhaya legislator also called for the retraining of secondary school teachers in preparation for the transition to Grade 10.

This is not the first time the Commission has faced criticism regarding teacher promotions. In January, KUPPET Secretary General Moses Nthurima expressed similar concerns.

During a press conference on January 30, Nthurima criticized the Commission for allegedly distributing promotion slots unevenly among counties.

“We want to see the Commission allocate promotion slots fairly, meaning that counties with a higher number of teachers should receive a proportionately higher number of slots to ensure fairness,” Nthurima suggested.

“We are demanding that the Teachers Service Commission implement a pro-rata system to guarantee equal treatment for all teachers,” he added.

The promotion of teachers has been a persistent issue for the government due to budgetary limitations, which have resulted in many teachers remaining stagnant in their job groups for extended periods.

2025 TSC promotion

2025 TSC promotion interview scoresheet for secondary school teachers

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) kicked off promotion interviews for post primary school teachers on Monday 27th January 2025. A straight forward score sheet is used during the interviews to ensure fairness and consistency.

Post primary institutions include Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) and Secondary schools.

The Commission had already concluded promotion interviews for primary school teachers which started on 13th January.

The Commission had advertised 25,288 promotion slots for both primary and post primary school teachers.

TSC first advertised 5,690 promotion slots for school administrators through Advert 1 to 4 of 2024 which run from 12th to 18th November, 2024.

TSC then on 17th December 2024 advertised additional 19,943 slots for teachers from job group C1 to D3 to apply online.

Of these 16,109 slots went to primary schools while a total of 9,179 positions went to post primary institutions.

This years promotions just like last years registered a huge number of teachers applying for the various advertised positions.

According to TSC a total of 189,000 teachers applied for promotions and were shortlisted where 96,640 were primary school teachers and 44,043 were post primary school teachers.

This year’s promotion interviews was different from last years as not so many questions were asked by the interviewing panels.

The promotion interviews for primary school teachers which started on 13th January ended on 23rd January 2025.

The interview panels which consisted of Sub County Directors, Human Resource Officers and Curriculum Support Officers largely restricted on documents verification.

Teachers were required to present their ID’s, academic and some other documents for verification during the interviews.

TSC Promotions Interviews Score sheet.

A brief check into the promotion scoresheet used by the Commission in this years interviews.

Academic Qualification

Masters -5 Marks
Degree – 3 Marks
Diploma – 1 Mark

Knec Examiner

4 Marks

Length of Stay in Current Grade

7 years and above – 50Marks
6 years – 40 Marks
5 years – 30 Marks
4 years – 20 Marks
3 years – 10 Marks

TPAD Rating

81+ 10 Marks
61- 80 – 8 Marks
41-60 – 6 Marks
21 – 40 – 4 Marks
1- 20 – 2 Marks

Age

55+ years 30 Marks
50-54 – 26 Marks
45-49 – 22 Marks
40-44 – 18 Marks
30-39 – 14 Marks

Presentation
1 – Mark

Those successful will be contacted to pick their promotion letters and will be posted to schools where there are vacancies.

The unsuccessful ones will be issued with regret letters and can try their luck next time. TSC was allocated sh 1 billion for promoting teachers this year.

TSC is facing mass retirements of teachers end of June and August this year and the promotions seek to address the numerous vacancies left by HOI’s and DHOI’s who retired and others planned to exit this year.

Those successful will produce the five Chapter 6 documents to complete their promotions.

Chapter 6 of the constitution requires that persons working for the public sector, otherwise known as state officials, exhibit leadership and integrity.

As a result, employers need clearance certificates to confirm that the employee exhibits personal integrity, competence and suitability.

Below are the five documents that are mandatory inline with Chapter six of the Kenyan Constitution on ‘Leadership and Integrity’.

• Valid Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)
• Clearance Certificate from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
• Tax Compliance Certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)
• Clearance from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)
• A Clearance Certificate from an approved Credit Reference Bureau (CRB)

LIST OF DOCUMENTS THAT TEACHERS PRESENTED DURING PROMOTION INTERVIEWS

The number of documents presented depended on nature of the promotion vacancy. Classroom teachers presented lesser documents compared to those seeking higher administrative positions.

1) Original Identity Card (ID)

2) Original academic certificates (KCSE, PTE, Diploma and Degree certificates)

3) Letter of appointment to current grade

4) Latest payslip

5) Last promotional letter

6) Letter assigning responsibility of HOI/DHOI

7) Performance appraisal reports (TPAD) for 2021, 2022, 2023

8) Any other testimonials

LIST OF DOCUMENTS THAT TEACHERS ARE TO PRESENT AFTER PROMOTION INTERVIEWS

1) Valid Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)

2) Clearance Certificate from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)

3) Tax Compliance Certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)

4) Clearance from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)

5) A Clearance Certificate from an approved Credit Reference Bureau (CRB)

TSC LIST OF 19,943 ADVERTISED PROMOTION VACANCIES

1. 5/2024 Chief Principal (Regular School) T- Scale 15 Grade D5 Vacancies 44

2. 6/2024 Chief Principal (TTC) T- Scale 15 Grade D5 Vacancies 3

3. 7/2024 Senior Principal (Regular School) T- Scale 14 Grade D4 Vacancies 126

4. 8/2024 Senior Principal (TTC) T- Scale 14 Grade D4 Vacancies 3

5. 9/2024 Principal (Regular School) T- Scale 13 Grade D3 Vacancies 652

6. 10/2024 Deputy Principal I (TTC) T- Scale 13 Grade D3 Vacancies 3

7. 11/2024 Deputy Principal II (Secondary School) T- Scale 12 Grade D2 Vacancies 786

8. 12/2024 Senior Lecturer I (TTC) T-Scale 12 Grade D2 13

9. 13/2024 Deputy Principal III(Regular School) T- Scale 11 Grade D1 Vacancies 1,408

10. 14/2024 Senior Lecturer II (TTC) T- Scale 11 Grade D1 Vacancies 32

11. 15/2024 Senior Master II (secondary SNE) T- Scale 11 Grade D1 Vacancies 2

12. 16/2024 Senior Master III (Regular School) T- Scale 10 Grade C5 Vacancies 1,987

13. 17/2024 Senior Lecturer III (TTC) T- Scale 10 Grade C5 Vacancies 61

14. 18/2024 Senior Master III (secondary SNE) T- Scale 10 Grade C5 Vacancies 6

15. 19/2024 Senior Master IV T- Scale 9 Grade C4 Vacancies 2,221

16. 20/2024 Senior Lecturer IV (TTC) T- Scale 9 Grade C4 Vacancies 70

17. 21/2024 Secondary Teacher I(Diploma teachers only) T- Scale 8 Grade C3 Vacancies 184

18. 22/2024 Lecturer 1 T-Scale 8 Grade C3 Vacancies 7

19. 23/2024 Senior Head teacher (Regular) T- Scale 11 Grade D1 Vacancies 254

20. 24/2024 Senior Head teacher (SNE) T- Scale 11 Grade D1 Vacancies 7

21. 25/2024 Head-Teacher (Regular School) T- Scale 10 Grade C5 Vacancies 2,130

22. 26/2024 Head Teacher (SNE Primary School) T- Scale 10 Grade C5 Vacancies 33

23. 27/2024 Deputy Head-teacher II (Regular Primary School) T- Scale 9 Grade C4 Vacancies 3,653

24. 28/2024 Deputy Head-teacher II (SNE) T- Scale 9 Grade C4 Vacancies 33

25. 29/2024 Senior Teacher I (Regular Primary School) T- Scale 8 Grade C3 Vacancies 4,703

26. 30/2024 Senior Teacher I (SNE Primary School) T- Scale 8 Grade C3 Vacancies 77

27. 31/2024 Senior Teacher II (Regular Primary School) T- Scale 7 Grade C2 Vacancies 1,364

28. 32/2024 Senior Teacher II (SNE Primary School) T- Scale 7 Grade C2 Vacancies 81

TOTAL 19,943