Tale of deputy principal’s dejected, long wait

It is shocking that the Teachers Service Commission has been extending the contract duration for some favoured headteachers in schools and colleges.

This way, the TSC Secretary, Mr Gabriel Lengoiboni and chairperson, Ms Salome Gichira, have created a super class of teachers who are well past 60 years, who continue enjoying their salaries and perks at the expense of younger personnel who are their deputies.

This practice is in contravention of a circular issued in February this year by the Head of the Civil Service, Mr Joseph Kinyua, to all government agencies.

The circular advises government employers that the retirement age limit must be adhered to without fail, as a way of stemming the government wage bill.

But in apparent disregard of this order, the TSC continues to serve extension letters to headteachers and college heads with gusto, as if there are no qualified Kenyans who can replace them.  During the old order, government employees were required to retire on reaching 55. Then this age limit was revised upwards to 60.

In my school, the headteacher got an extension of two years after reaching 60. He continued serving in the same capacity and has just got yet another extension of three years! This means that if he does not get another extension, he will retire at 65 in 2017.

By this malpractice, the commission puts at risk the normal administrative succession in school and college leadership, where ageing heads of institutions increasingly delegate more of their responsibilities to their deputies.

INDISPENSABILITY

An extension of service years often gives the favoured headteachers a sense of entitlement and indispensability and they often rule with an iron fist, like some long-serving African “presidents-for-life”.

Everybody gets into a protective mode and hides in his or her cocoon. Performance takes a beating.

In any case, it is expensive to keep retirees in service when younger teachers are jobless. By virtue of being at the apex of their working life, retiring headteachers draw hefty salaries and allowances.

An extension of even one year is ultimately expensive for the State. Since one’s monthly pension is based on the last basic pay, and since the normal annual pay increments apply during the extended term, such headteachers also raise the wage bill, even when they finally retire.

We cannot as a State, keep on talking about creating jobs and taming the wage bill, yet allow the TSC to continue extending service years.

Thank you.

The writer is a deputy headteacher of a public school