20,055 out of , 46,962 Delocalized Teachers Moved to Their Home Counties , TSC Says
Since the delocalization policy was reversed in November, 46,962 teachers have requested transfers back to their home counties, but less than half have been successful.
Nancy Macharia, chief executive officer of the Teachers Service Commission, told the Education Committee of the National Assembly that only 20,055 of the applications have been fulfilled.
The commission has transferred only 17,942 of the 35,959 primary school teachers who have requested a transfer.
At the secondary level, 10,967 instructors applied, but only 2,113 were transferred due to a lack of qualified replacements.
Teachers and their unions protested that the delocalization policy hurt families, leading to the policy’s suspension.
The transfer of teachers deemed to have overstayed their welcome at the same workplace began in 2018.
However, Ms. Macharia cautioned yesterday that sending teachers back to their home counties would be counterproductive because it would affect the school’s staff balance.
“We can’t balance staff across the counties. We’ll have an inequitable distribution of teachers of unknown proportions because of historical issues, where some counties are more endowed with teachers than others,” Ms Macharia said.
“We delocalized teachers for two years, how do we now do it [reversal] in a term without disrupting learning? We also want to make sure that children continue learning,” said Ms. Macharia.
She explained that only teachers who request transfer to their home counties are considered for transfers and that exchanging positions is the most effective method.
The committee chair, Julius Melly, requested that TSC expedite the transfers because many teachers waste time in regional offices pursuing transfers rather than being productive in the classroom.
Moreover, Ms. Macharia explained that of the 36,000 instructors TSC has recruited this year, 6,000 represent a “balance” between the budgeted figure and the actual number.
Despite the Teachers Service Commission (TSC ) advertising open vacancies in two recruitment windows, Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa counties failed to attract applicants for 210 teaching positions.
Ms. Nancy Macharia the TSC CEO attributed this to the region’s insecurity, which discourages non-natives from applying for the positions.
“We’ve done everything, advertised in the newspapers and written to the local leadership. The vacancies were re-advertisement again in May but did not attract any applicants from the three regions.
“The same has been reserved for the region to be filled during the current recruitment or when an applicant is found, whichever is earlier,” said Ms Macharia.
Equally, 3,507 senior administrative positions in schools have been re-advertised after failing to attract applicants.
The TSC administrator refuted the claim that there are no qualified teachers for the positions, stating that qualified teachers are on the payroll but do not apply.
According to TSC data, there are 360 vacancies for principals, 385 vacancies for assistant principals, 2,637 vacancies for deputy headteachers, and 125 vacancies for senior masters and senior teachers in arid and semiarid regions.
Ms. Macharia stated that budgetary constraints have hindered the promotion of meritorious teachers and that the commission has only promoted teachers to fill vacancies created by departures and common cadre promotions.
“The commission faced the challenge of promotion-based localization in that promotion is now based on the number of vacancies in a specific county. Accordingly, teachers are only competing for vacancies in their counties,” she said.
Timothy Toroitich, an MP from Marakwet West, has requested that Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki be summoned to explain the measures set in place to combat insecurity in certain regions so that education is not disrupted.
20,055 out of , 46,962 Delocalized Teachers Moved to Their Home Counties , TSC Says