The Teachers Service Commission building in Upper Hill, Nairobi. Despite several re-advertisements by the teachers’ employer, the senior administrative posts have remained vacant since December.
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TSC puzzle of 1,000 school head posts with no applicants
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has failed to attract enough applicants for the senior administrative posts it has been trying to fill since December last year.
A total of 1,001 slots have remained unfilled with no applications in the past six months, even after re-advertising and extending deadlines severally.
The positions are for chief principals, principals, deputy principals, headteachers, deputy headteachers, senior masters and senior teachers to fill vacancies in institutions which do not have administrators.
“Thousands of schools are left without principals and vice-principals because teachers did not apply for advertised positions. Among the schools affected are public schools with special needs and those with disability. The commission has again given an additional seven days from June 9, to 15, to allow for more applications,” reads a TSC brief.
The openings that have not yet been filled are 987 deputy headteacher posts (primary schools), six deputy principal posts (special needs schools) and eight posts (special needs schools).
Read: Teachers in Tharaka Nithi sleep outside TSC office demanding transfers
After the first round of advertisements, the TSC filled 5,155 posts, of which 2,592 were not filled. They then re-advertised in March but received only 1,591 applications.
The commission hoped that the extension of the deadline would attract more teachers as many schools operate without permanent administrators. Many are staffed by teachers in acting capacities but are not paid for their services.
Succession plans
The lack of senior heads poses a risk to succession plans in schools, while teachers’ unions have accused the TSC of failing to promote teachers to grades that qualify them for administrative positions.
TSC first advertised for 14,738 teacher promotions in December 2022, before cancelling the advertisement.
It then called for subsequent applications in January this year, then March and the latest in May.
The vacancies arose through natural attrition.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) chairperson Omboko Milemba told the Sunday Nation that teachers are not applying for promotions because they lack the qualifications.
“There are thousands of secondary school teachers who have been stagnating at C3 and C4 (formerly L and M) for over 10 years and many of them are even close to retirement. You have to be in D2 and D1 to qualify for a deputy headteacher post. This is a circus and a joke. It’s an unfair practice and it really hurts,” he said.
A report by Kuppet to the National Assembly’s education committee in February put the number of secondary school teachers eligible for promotion but not promoted at 46,550. The number of those who had been stuck at C3 for more than five years was 24,082.
Mr Milemba suggested that the commission should use the money it intends to pay for administrators to instead promote teachers so they can qualify to take up the administrator posts later.
The TSC has requested Sh2.2 billion from the government for the said promotions. In the Budget Appropriations Committee report tabled in Parliament last week, the commission was allocated Sh1 billion for the purpose. The total allocation of Sh323.83 billion.
In an earlier presentation to the education committee, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said they had not received a budget allocation for promotions in the past decade except in 2017.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general Collins Oyuu said:” The TSC hasn’t been keen on promoting those who have been acting. Many of them don’t have the qualifications to be confirmed,” he said.
