TSC transfers head teachers as it seeks cohesion

The Teachers Service Commission has announced massive transfers of head teachers of primary and secondary schools across the country this month.

Chief Executive Nancy Macharia said a number of principals and head teachers have already received their transfer letters and asked those who are yet to get their letters to liaise with TSC county directors.

Dr Macharia, who did not indicate the number of transferred head teachers, said they will be required to report to their new schools in January.

She was speaking during the release of this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination results on Wednesday, and assured those affected that the exercise will be “humane”.

COHESION
Those affected by the transfers are school heads who have stayed in their institutions for more than nine years.

There are about 23,000 primary schools and 8,000 secondary schools in the country.

She said the commission is determined to assist the government in enhancing national cohesion and bolstering professionalism and commitment in the teaching profession.

“We have completed the process of reorganising the headship of some schools in the country through staff redeployments in what we have come to refer to as delocalisation,” she said.

“We hope this will renew teacher commitments and breathe freshness within schools.”

POLICY OPPOSED
She asked all stakeholders to support the process and asked those affected to move to their new stations as advised as the transfers were in tandem with regulations for teachers, particularly about “delocalising the administration of public schools”.

“In doing this, we are also implementing the CBA 2017-2021 article 4, which stipulates that the regulations form an integral part of the agreement with trade unions.

"It’s my prayer that all would have settled at their new destinations by the time schools open in January, 2018,” Dr Macharia said.

However, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has opposed the policy on delocalisation as currently envisaged by the commission.

HOME COUNTIES

The decision was arrived at last week, during the union’s 60th annual delegates conference in Mombasa.

In the new policy by TSC, head teachers will not be allowed to serve in their home counties or be in one school for more than nine years.

Currently, newly recruited teachers are no longer posted to their home counties.

At the same time, Dr Macharia asked head teachers to start preparing for next year’s much-awaited Free Day Secondary Education programme.

“Given the premium the government is attaching to this programme, I urge you to tighten your belts and pull up your socks to ensure that the increased enrolment does not water down teaching and learning standards in our secondary schools,” she appealed.

SHORTAGE
She said the commission had made a proposal for funds to recruit 12,696 teachers every year for the next five years.

There are 312,060 teachers across the country, but statistics from TSC indicate that only six out of 47 counties have sufficient teachers in primary schools, while all secondary schools have a shortage.

Counties that have enough teachers are Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Murang’a, Nyeri and Nyamira.

The country is facing a shortage of 87,489 teachers, with primary schools being in need of 39,913 teachers and secondary schools having a deficit of 47,576.