Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will adopt a promotion system that gives priority to teachers in disadvantaged parts of the country.

Yesterday, the commission’s Legal and Industrial Relations Director, Cavin Anyuor, explained that teachers in arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) would be accorded special attention in the promotion system.

“The issue of promotions in ASAL areas will be treated as special because we cannot have teachers coming from advantageous regions competing for promotional vacancies with those from arid and semiarid areas,” said Anyuor.

He made the remarks while responding to principals on the criteria for promotion of teachers, during the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KSSHA) annual forum in Mombasa, which closes today.

The teachers had also urged TSC to ensure full implementation of the 2021/25 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which outlines modalities for promotion, among other things. TSC defended stagnation in promotion of teachers, saying that clause 9 of the CBA articulates the issue of promotion, especially for teachers in ASAL areas.

Read also:

Mammoth Queues As Principals Register For TPD Training At Principal’s Conference

List of Trainer of Trainers For Junior Secondary CBC Training Per County

List Of Head Teachers & Principals Retained For 2 Years By TSC After Retirement Per County

TSC: Self Sponsored TPD Training To Begin From 9th, And No Teacher Will Escape

Principals Now Want Additional Deputies For Effective School Management

Principals Want Form 3 Registration of KCSE Candidates Stopped

KUPPET Wants TSC To Recruit 115,000 Teachers Ahead of CBC

Magoha to Heads:Uhuru has Employed Adequate teachers

Uhuru Tells Teachers To Stop Misleading Students on White Collar Jobs

Stop administering national exams to teenage mothers, principals say

Principals want school fees Increased by Sh16,000, Fault MOE On Form One Admission Requirements

The teachers insisted that the CBA provides for progressive promotion in a period of three years when they should be moved to the next grade until they reach the highest D5 grade. Anyuor, however, said the employer will put into consideration affirmative action as it is included in the CBA to ensure equal distributions of promotion positions.

KESSHA data shows the number of teachers with masters and doctorate degrees in service stood at 1,725 in 2016, compared with 2,453 in 2020. KESSHA chairman Kahi Indimuli lamented that interviews for promotions were pegged on the schools’ level, a situation that locks out the majority of principals seeking to get higher grades.

“The challenge we have faced as principals is that the interviews appear to be pegged on the type of school one is heading. If I am heading a sub-county school and there is an opportunity to move, I am not called for interviews because of the school I am in,” said Indimuli.

He added school heads do not choose to be where they are but are posted by their employer.“The question that principals are asking is, how come now that I have been sent to that school I cannot be called for interviews? Let us not peg promotions to the type of school one is heading,” he stated.

Indimuli also proposed the creation of new grades that will see principals in the highest job group (grade D5) promoted to senior chief principals. He called for reorganisation of funds in education sector to cater for promotion of head teachers so as to resolve the issue of stagnation.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) secretary general Akello Misori had said there was a need to increase the number of teachers and effect promotions.

He said reviews of lower cadres of staff is required, adding that the government has only reviewed the upper cadres of teachers. The union is calling for the implementation of the 2021-25 CBA that pushes for an increase in salaries and allowances, as well as hiring more teachers for public schools.

“So far, we have a teacher deficit of over 115,000 and yet the government has continued to push for 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools. How do you say you want to rationalise teaching in schools with this kind of deficit?” he asked.

Teachers acting as school administrators are set to be promoted on affirmative action. Among those to be confirmed are senior teachers and masters, deputy headteachers and school heads in acting capacity. However, this will begin with Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) and hard to staff areas, according to information from TSC.

To be considered for promotion, the teachers must have served in their current position for at least three years.

Read also:

List of TSC Appointed HeadTeachers, Principals, Deputies And Senior Teachers Per County

Updated: Lists Of TSC Promoted Teachers 2021 Per County

Updated: List Of Schools That Will Host Junior Secondary Schools Per County Under CBC

TSC Releases Number Of Teachers Who Defiled students in 2021 Per County, Pledges To Publish Photos

New: List of Deregistered Teachers Between September-November 2021

Hard to staff Areas As Per CBA 2021-2025

Nationwide Survey and Review Of Hardship Areas

Although the Teachers Service Commission, (TSC) through circular number 14/2021 said promotions of teachers shall be in accordance with the Career Progression Guidelines in force, TSC maintained that teachers serving in ASAL and hard to staff areas and are holding administrative positions in an acting capacity shall be promoted progressively until they obtain grades commensurate to their respective positions.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general, Collins Oyuu, clarified that what TSC has done is to list the hard to staff areas and maintained that they are putting administrators on acting capacity regardless of their grade, who will continue to serve in those administrative positions in the hard to staff areas until they attain their respective grades for confirmation.

“Those areas are hardship but hard to staff, meaning, even positions of Head teachers and Deputies nobody is ready to be there, and those who are there are not even qualified for those positions in terms of what we have in the CBA,” said Oyuu.

“They are promoted to act in those positions because those areas are hard to staff and nobody is willing to go there,” he added.

Oyuu added that what TSC is looking at is the interest an individual teacher has in line with serving under acting capacity of administration in those areas prior to one’s grade until when the teacher attains the full grade of administrator for full confirmations of the position the teacher was acting before.

Sources say the promotions and employment of more teachers will happen after the July budget.Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has allocated an additional Sh14.9 billion to the TSC, whose budget has risen to Sh296.6 billion from Sh281.7 billion this year.

TSC will receive an extra Sh15 billion for the 2022 – 2023 financial year, with the additional money aimed to cater for a pay rise and hiring of new teachers.

The National Treasury has also allocated an extra Sh70.8 billion to ministries for recurrent expenditure, including the annual pay rise.

Already a total of 1,963 teachers were promoted following interviews conducted in November by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

The Commission interviewed 1,376 teachers holding positions of Heads and Deputy Heads of

institutions in ASAL and Hard to Staff areas who were seeking promotions.

The recently conducted mapping and review of hardship and hard to stuff areas by the ministry of education seems to have favored four sub counties, whose teachers will soon start earning hardship allowances. Subsequently, Thousands of teachers from Nyando, Chonyi. Lungalunga and Suba sub counties are warming up for possible changes in their salaries, as the government is set to implement recommendations from teams that collected data on hardship regions.

However, the payment can only be done after the official new hardship areas are gazetted and a budget is passed to capture the new areas.

Read also:

We are not planning to scrap hardship allowance From Any Hardship area, clarifies TSC

Teachers who declined To activate their TSC Outlook365 emails Barred from Wealth Declaration

Hard to staff Areas As Per CBA 2021-2025

Nationwide Survey and Review Of Hardship Areas

Though more sub counties had favourable remarks, the four had overwhelming support with some teams recommending specific zones and schools where the payment should be done.

In Lungalunga sub county for example the team recommended the whole of Mwereni zone to be captured and seven schools in Lungalunga zone to be added as hardship areas.

On 5th September last year the Principal Secretary for Interior Services dispatched five teams for a countrywide data collection exercise aimed to review hardship areas for public service employees.

The teams each with representatives drawn from Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, Ministry of Education, The National Treasury and Planning, Public Service Commission, Teachers Service Commission, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Council of Governors, Commission on Revenue Allocation, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and The judiciary were sent to various counties to collect data to inform on new hardship areas.

The exercise was a second phase after the Technical Committee completed the first phase during the 2020/2021 financial year.

According to the PS the Technical Committee undertook phase I of the exercise during the 2020/21 financial.

However, owing to financial constraints, phase II of the exercise could not be undertaken to finalize the exercise in the same year.

A data collection exercise meant to review hardship areas in the whole country has been scheduled by the Principal Secretary for Interior Services to begin this morning.

The exercise, which will inform addition or removal of some hardship areas, will involve five teams.  Each of the five teams will have representatives from; Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, Ministry of Education, The National Treasury and Planning, Public Service Commission, Teachers Service Commission, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Council of Governors, Commission on Revenue Allocation, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and The Judiciary. The teams will be visiting various areas in the country to collect data, which can be used to categorize the areas as hardship areas or not.

“The exercise is scheduled to start from 5^th September to 17^th September, 2021 as outlined in the programme. The travel date to the field will be on 5th September, 2021 and return to Nairobi on 18th September, 2021,” reads the circular from the interior PS.

The PS ordered County Directors of Education, Teachers Service Commission County Directors and

Officers incharge of Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in County’s to assist the teams with

valuable data and input towards achieving the objectives of the survey.

The current official hardship areas approved and included in the 2021-2025 CBA are;

1)Baringo North;Tiaty East, Tiaty West and Marigat sub-counties in Baringo County.

2)Garissa County

3) Suba and Mbita sub-counties in Homa Bay County

4)Isiolo County

5)Mashuuru Lotortok and kajiado West sub-counties in kajiado county

6)Kwale County

7) Magarini,änd Ganze in Kilifi County

8)Lamu.County

9)Mandera County

10)Marsabit County

11)Mumoni, Mutito North and Tseikuru sub-counties in Kitui County

12)Narok South and Narok North sub-counties in Narok County

13)Samburu County

14)Taita Taveta County

15)Tana River County

16)Turkana County

17)Wajir County

18)West Pokot County

Teachers teaching in hardship areas face several challenges, some of which include:

• Limited access to food
• Unreliable transport due to poor accessibility, limited roads, or fewer public vehicles
• Limited access to social amenities like hospitals and dispensaries.
• Few and inaccessible shopping centers. Accessing even bank services in some areas is a very big problem
• Unbearable climatic conditions like persistent flooding, landslides, droughts e.t.c
• High levels of insecurity.
• Lack of water

When it comes to posting, the teachers’ service commission can post a teacher in any school within Kenya. Even the TSC adverts have a clause that tests teachers’ loyalty to serve in any school where they will be posted.

Living and working in hardship areas comes with its own share of discomfort to the teacher, and that is the reason for them being renumerated.

Read also:

Revealed: Teachers’ Leave allowance as per 2021-2024 TSC CBA Counter Proposal

Revealed: Teachers’ Commuter allowance as per 2021-2024 TSC CBA Counter Proposal

Teachers’ House allowance as per 2021-2024 TSC CBA Counter Proposal

New Teachers’ Salary scales After 2021-2024 TSC CBA Proposal

TSC Plans To Establish a Post Training Institute For Registered Teachers and Heads

Apply Now: Romanian Government Scholarship 2021-2022 (BS, MS, PhD)

Basic Salary Increments Per Job Group As Per The 2021-2024 TSC CBA Proposal

Salaries And Renumeration Commission Receives 2021-2024 CBA Proposal From TSC

To compensate the cost of living for teachers working in hardship areas, the teachers’ service commission, TSC, adds hardship allowance as an extra allowance in their pay slips.

As per the TSC 2021-2024 CBA counter proposal that was presented to the SRC, there is no increment in hardship allowance. The hardship allowance therefore will remain as it is currently. The proposals of the two unions, KNUT and KUPPET, also did not touch on hardship allowance.

The table below gives a summary of the hardship allowance rates that teachers working in hardship areas earn, based on their job groups.

Currently, Teachers in the highest job group D5, earn the highest hardship allowance while those in the lowest job group, B5, earn the least amount in hardship allowance.  Initially, hardship allowance was a flat rate for all the job groups.