33,000 teachers shortlisted for promotion vacancies

 

More than 33,000 teachers are competing to fill 15,726 promotion vacancies advertised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) last year.

The number excludes members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), which has had a frosty relationship with the TSC.

Knut members were not considered for the promotions owing to a protracted disagreement between the union and TSC over the evaluation criteria.

The interviews will take place between today and February 19; before the hearing of a case in which the teachers union has sued the TSC chief executive, Nancy Macharia, for contempt of court starts the following week.

“The interviewees will not need to travel to Nairobi, but the commission will go out to all counties and meet shortlisted teachers there,” said Mrs Macharia in a statement.

TSC also announced that it will affirmatively confirm all acting heads of institutions and acting deputy heads of institutions in all counties under arid and semi-arid lands.

Filed case

Two weeks ago, the commission also invited diploma holders to apply for 1,000 promotion slots.

The commission will promote the teachers based on the Career Progression Guidelines (CPGs) that Knut is opposed to and which leaves out its members.

Mrs Macharia said that the promotion of the 15,726 teachers will bring the total number of teachers promoted this year to over 90,000.

Knut has filed a case under a certificate of urgency before the Employment and Labour Relations Court seeking to have Mrs Macharia cited for contempt and jailed over a previous court ruling regarding the implementation of the contentious CPGs. 

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is listed as an interested party in the case.

Promoted teachers 

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) have applied to be enjoined in the case.

The ruling on their plea will be heard on February 19, while the hearing of the case is set to begin on February 261. Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion, refused to be drawn into the intricacies of the dispute.

“We have an active matter in court. While we are not opposed to promotions, it should be conducted in accordance to the law,” he told the Nation.

Knut is seeking to have Mrs Macharia, the TSC and its chair jailed for six months “for disobeying the orders of this Honourable Court on July 12, 2019 directing the stay of the implementation of career progression guidelines”.

Since the ruling was made by Justice Byram Ongaya, TSC has left Knut members out of pay increments and promotions as it no longer uses the Schemes of Service and Teachers Code of Regulations favoured by Knut and contained in their collective bargaining agreement.

It is not yet clear what would be the fate of the teachers promoted under the CPGs after the court case.