The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has made the decision to promote 25,252 teachers by relaxing a key requirement that mandated educators to serve a minimum of three years in their current grade before advancing.
The commission announced that 5,291 teachers were promoted even though they did not meet the three-year requirement. Many of these individuals assumed roles as principals and deputy headteachers, where there were not enough qualified candidates to fill the available positions.
“In the recent promotion exercise, the number of teachers who met the three-year requirement in the feeder grades was significantly lower than the number of vacancies,” the commission stated in a release dated May 22.
This decision follows the National Assembly’s allocation of Sh1 billion to facilitate promotions, which only addressed 5,690 of the 25,252 open positions.
According to the commission, 1,410 teachers were promoted to principal positions in Grade D3, while 3,686 were appointed as deputy headteachers in Grade C4.
The commission noted that only 598 teachers had the requisite service time to qualify for the 1,410 principal vacancies, and 7,460 were eligible for the 3,686 deputy headteacher roles.
To mitigate the shortfall, the commission temporarily reduced the requirement to just six months of service in one grade.
The TSC explained that this waiver was intended to attract more applicants and resolve a long-standing issue of teachers working in acting positions.
“This policy decision ensured that the vacancies were filled competitively, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where recruitment and retention have been challenging,” the commission stated.
Of the 5,291 teachers promoted without the three-year service requirement, 3,427 were assigned to the critical administrative roles of principal and deputy headteacher.
The commission has requested that all teachers promoted under this temporary measure be retained, emphasizing that the waiver was crucial for addressing significant staffing shortages.
Looking ahead, the commission plans to develop and communicate standardized promotion guidelines, following consultations with teachers, unions, and other stakeholders.
The new framework will adhere to constitutional principles, including equity, inclusiveness, and non-discrimination.
“The commission remains dedicated to ensuring fair and accountable processes in future promotions,” the statement concluded.
There has been ongoing debate regarding the promotion criteria used by the commission, with Members of Parliament expressing strong criticism. However, with the commission’s final ruling on the promotion issue, teachers can now feel relieved. Promotion letters that were prepared will be sent to counties for collection by the successful candidates. The TSC is expected to release the final promotions list after removing 1,864 teachers from the list and making the necessary replacements.
