TSC Delocalization News 2021; TSC accused of using the Building Bridges Initiative, BBI, to rubber-stamp and roll-out massive transfers for over 30, 000 teachers in April; get the full details below
Another planned massive delocalization of over 30, 000 TSC employed teachers in April 2021 has given birth to a fresh row between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).
The 30,000 teachers who have been affected by the shake-up are currently panick-stricken, wondering where the new posting letters will direct them to report.
The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, had earlier directed its regional staffing officers to collect and forward data for teachers and heads who have stayed in one school for at least nine years.
TSC Demands data for school heads who have exited the teaching service and those currently working from home, signaling a major shake-up in the management of schools
In an official memo dated February 26, 2021 addressed to all Regional Directors, the commission demands relevant details of all primary school headteachers and principals of secondary schools who have exited the teaching service.
The employer also needs data of all heads who are currently working from home following the biting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, hence signaling a major shake-up in the management of public learning institutions in Kenya.
The afore-mentioned teachers, who are 50 years and above or those with pre-existing risk factors had been directed to work from home to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus by TSC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Nancy Macharia.
The memo whose deadline lapsed last week also directs that principals who have hit the age of 55 and below will be considered for transfers.
Newly appointed principals in the recently concluded TSC Promotions Interviews under Grade D3 principals will fill the slots.
County Schools are usually headed by principals falling under Grade D3.
There are approximately 1, 031 county schools hosting over 145,000 learners.
Principals of sub-county schools, on the other hand, fall under grade D2. There are approximately 7,000 sub-county schools with over 650,000 learner enrollment.
Heads of extra county secondary schools fall under grade D4. There are approximately 531 extra county schools with over 130, 000 students.
The memo signed by Dorothy Jonyo, the Deputy Director Staffing at the TSC, also gives a specific format for data presentation.
Under the secondary schools’ matrix, the regional directors are expected to capture the home county of every principal with complete details of their current working stations.
These details should also include the size of the school, learner enrollment, sponsor of the institution, and category.
The mean score registered by the schools for the last three years between 2017 and 2019 must also be captured as well as the institution’s host county. The principal’s present designation, job group, and gender must also be captured.
For primary schools, TSC wants the age of the headteacher captured. The teacher’s home county, designation, current station, and the host county of the school details are also required.
KNUT accuses TSC of using BBI to Rubber-stamp TSC Delocalization
Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion yesterday said the union will oppose the plan which he said will be rolled out in April.
Sossion claimed the delocalisation policy was sneaked in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report which he said is TSC is using to institute the schools’ management shake-up.
In a letter to the BBI secretariat, Sossion said: “The policy was not proposed by Kenyans but was unjustly sneaked into the report to drive TSC’s agenda of delocalisation of teachers.”
“If TSC executes massive delocalisation of teachers in April, then it shall be met with collective industrial action to safeguard our families and the teaching profession.”
The BBI report proposed that the Ministry of Education adopts policy guidelines that discourage local recruitment and staffing of teachers, depending on the circumstances.
“To strengthen social ties and promote unity among all the communities, stakeholders recommended that the Ministry of Education reviews the curricula to introduce and integrate the teaching of national unity, character, and cohesion to learners during their formative or early years,” says the report.
Even as unions rejected the delocalisation and transfers, TSC has always insisted that the transfers were in line with the provisions of the code of regulations for teachers and Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) signed between TSC and their unions.
“The Commission finds it an act of dishonesty and deceit on the part of the unions’ leadership to continue making public pronouncements calculated at misleading the same teachers the leaders are supposed to guide,” Dr Macharia said.
The mass transfers and the delocalisation exercise has been a bone of contention between TSC and Knut.
In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Education to review the TSC policy on mass transfers.
“I am aware that delocalisation has created some unforeseen challenges that have affected some teachers,” said Uhuru.
Defending the transfers, Dr Macharia said transfers and delocalisation were negotiated and signed by the two teachers’ unions and documented in the CBA.