TSC under fire for transferring several teachers without replacements

TSC under fire for transferring several teachers without replacements

The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, is under fire for transferring several teachers without replacements.

Turkana North MP Paul Nabuin has criticized the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for transferring more than 47 teachers from the area with no replacements.

Nabuin said the transfers have severely disrupted learning in the region, leading to significant teacher shortage.

The MP raised concern over a trend where teachers from outside the county secure employment in local schools, only to seek transfer soon after to their home counties.

“This practice has undermined the stability and continuity of education in Turkana since many schools are left empty. This is a blatant denial of education to children from pastoralist community which goes against the government mandate,” Nabuin said.

The legislator warned TSC against making decisions that undermine education in the marginalised area.

“Over 47 teachers have been transferred, leaving our schools understaffed. We condemn these actions by the TSC regional commissioner. All teachers employed in Turkana have been moved elsewhere, and this goes against policy. We demand all replacement forms for every teacher transferred. This injustice to our county cannot be ignored,” Nabuin lamented.

The MP has threatened to take action against the responsible official if immediate measures are not taken to address the situation.

Local education stakeholders led by the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) and Kenya Union of Post Primary School Teachers (Kuppet) termed the transfer of teachers unfair.

Kessha Secretary General Michael Ejikon accused TSC of transferring teachers from various schools to paralyse education in the region.

The Commission has been on the receiving end lately with other accusations being that of inadequate promotions.

The Kenya National Union of Post-Primary Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) have lashed out at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for promoting only a limited number of teachers, falling short of their expectations and prior agreements.

Speaking at an event in Kericho over the weekend, KNUT’s First National Vice Chairperson, Malel Lang’at, termed the promotion of 25,288 teachers as insufficient to address career stagnation and professional growth across the country.

KUPPET’s Kericho Branch Executive, Mary Rotich, echoed the sentiments and stated that the union had anticipated at least 130,000 promotions, emphasising the need for more opportunities to support teachers’ career advancement.

”We have many teachers who have qualified for promotion but the Teachers Service Commission is still sitting on the same. Even the recent promotions where they claimed to have promoted the same,” Lang’at stated.

”The TSC instead of promoting teachers professionally, there is politicization of employment in this country,” he added.

The criticisms came following recent calls made on January 30 where KUPPET officials took an issue with the criteria used to allocate the promotion slots terming in the country.

The union also faulted the Commission for distributing the slots unequally across all counties. As a result, the protestors demanded the Commission to fill the available slots on a pro-rata basis.

“We want to see the commission allocate proportionately the slots of promotion which means the counties that have gotten the highest number of teachers must get the highest number of slots so that we act fairly in terms of spreading,” Moses Nthurima, KUPPET Secretary General revealed.

“For that, we are demanding that the Teachers Service Commission use pro-rata to ensure that teachers are treated equally,” he added.