Joy and disappointment as over 36,000 teachers are promoted
Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia. TSC transferred 17 teachers at St Gabriel Isongo Secondary School to other stations.
What you need to know:
- The teachers who have been promoted to various job grades followed interviews conducted in December and January of this year.
- However, it was a disappointment for thousands of others who applied and attended interviews but were not considered for promotion.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has published a list of 36,505 teachers who have been promoted to various job grades following interviews conducted in December and January this year.
The list, which is available on the TSC's website, completes the process that will see the successful candidates receive increased salaries in their new job grades. The list contains only the teachers' registration numbers and the code of the job grade applied for.
"I have been promoted to the post of deputy head teacher in a secondary school (grade D1). I'm 54 years old and I hope that through hard work and diligence, I can reach the next grade before I retire. I believe my experience and other duties such as marking national examinations and being involved in co-curricular activities have got me through," a teacher from Kirinyaga County told the Nation. He had served in Grade C5 for six years.
However, it was a disappointment for thousands of others who applied and attended interviews but were not considered for promotion.
"Can someone tell me what is wrong with my file? Or what is TSC looking for in these interviews? I am shortlisted every year but never considered [for promotion]. Teachers that I interviewed for and mentored are now getting ahead of me and becoming my bosses. It's quite demoralising. I think I will opt for early retirement because I am no longer motivated to work; I have five months to 50 [years] and then I will hang up my boots," said a teacher from Elgeyo Marakwet.
He told the Nation that his last promotion was in 2011. He had been interviewed in 2017, 2021, 2023, and 2024 and had not been considered for promotion on each occasion.
Teachers' unions have complained that many of their members have been stagnating in the same grades for years. The TSC has cited a lack of funds to promote teachers and has only done so to fill gaps caused by natural attrition. It has been allocated Sh1 billion for promotions in the current financial year, although it had requested Sh2.2 billion.
Last week, Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Collins Oyuu asked the TSC to pay arrears to promoted teachers for the time they qualified for promotion but were not assigned to the new job grades.
