The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will start interviews for the promotion of 2,419 tutors in primary and secondary schools next week.
According to a TSC brief, the interviews would be conducted at regional and county levels from November 1 to 12.
The vacancies are mostly for chief principals, principals, deputy principals, headteachers, deputy headteachers and senior teachers.
The interviews would also lead to the promotion of 1,376 teachers as heads and deputy heads in arid and semi-arid lands (Asal) and hard-to-staff regions.
“This is on affirmative action to grow teachers progressively,” the notice says.
The promotions are in line with the career progression guidelines, which came into effect in 2018.
Interviews for the 1,995 interns – some 1,038 for primary and 957 for secondary schools – will also be conducted next month.
Senior teachers
In the last one year, the commission has promoted more than 100,000 teachers in line with the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement that expired on June 30.
Among them are 15,407 teachers who were interviewed in December 2020 and February this year.
The other 99,078 were elevated under the common cadre established, while 712 teachers and institutional administrators in 10 Asal regions rose on the basis of affirmative action, the commission says.
A total of 115,197 classroom teachers, senior teachers, deputy headteachers, headteachers, curriculum developers, deputy principals and principals have been promoted in a year.
“The collective bargaining agreement granted all cadres of teachers a common promotion after serving for three years in the entry grades,” reads Teacher’s Image, a magazine produced by the commission.
P1 teachers at job group B5 were promoted to job group C1, diploma certificate holders in job group C1 were promoted to job group C2 while degree certificate holders in job group C2 were promoted to job C3.
“The promotions are a departure from the past where P1 teachers entered and retired from service in the same grade,” the TSC said.
“This is an indication of the commission’s commitment to cater for the professional growth of teachers by a clear career path for the worker.”
According to the career progression guidelines, a teacher must have served in their current job group for three years.
Senior masters
While advertising the posts, TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia said there are vacancies for secondary school teachers, senior masters and deputy principals, primary school teachers, senior teachers, deputy headteachers and headteachers in counties classified as dry.
She said the promotion of teachers in Asal regions is part of the promise made by the commission in the 2021-25 collective bargaining agreement.
Teachers in Asal regions holding the posts have being serving in acting capacity for more than three years.
Schools in the regions have been experiencing an acute teacher shortage due to insecurity.
Many teachers posted to these regions seek transfer shortly after.
A number of teachers are also being moved from primary to secondary school to handle junior secondary students ahead of the rollout in 2023.
The TSC plans to extend the serving period of 4,005 interns, whose one year term was to end in December.
It means the total number of interns in schools would increase to 6,000.
The 1,995 interns to be recruited from next week are expected to report to school in January 2022.
The recruitment of interns, the commission says, is meant to address the teacher shortage in schools.
An teacher intern attached to a primary school gets a monthly stipend of Sh15,000 while his or her colleague in secondary school earns Sh20,000. BY DAILY NATION