The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has criticised the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for what it terms as unfair promotion of teachers.
Addressing the residents of Vihiga on Friday, March 21, KUPPET National Chairperson Omboko Milemba accused the Commission of bias in the formula used in the promotions.
While venting frustrations over the process, Milemba called on TSC to immediately halt the promotions, further faulting the Commission for allegedly promoting newly hired teachers over the long-serving ones.
The KUPPET boss went ahead to question the criteria used in the promotion and revealed that some teachers spent up to seven years in a single job grade without an advancement.
“I want TSC to immediately halt all the promotions it's undertaking because they are not doing a good job. They are picking teachers who have only spent six months,” Milemba noted.
“They are making promotions, yet they have left behind many teachers across the country who have spent up to six and seven years without promotions,” he added.
Speaking at Essunza Secondary School, the Emuhaya legislator also called for the retooling of secondary school teachers as part of the preparations for the Grade 10 transition.
It is not the first time the Commission has been on the receiving end over teachers’ promotions. In January this year, KUPPET Secretary General Moses Nthurima raised similar concerns.
Addressing members of the press on January 30, Nthurima criticised the Commission for reportedly distributing slots unequally across all counties.
"We want to see the Commission proportionately allocating 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," Nthurima recommended.
"For that, we are demanding that the Teachers Service Commission use pro-rata to ensure that teachers are treated equally," he added.
Promotion of teachers has been a challenge for the government due to budgetary constraints, a factor that has seen many teachers stagnate in one job group for a long time.
