Thousands of primary school teachers have been investing heavily and digging deeper in their pockets to acquire higher academic papers
According to statistics, the Teachers Service Commission, TSC, ended automatic promotion for primary and secondary school teachers who upgraded their academic certificates back in 2014.
Since 2014, TSC has adopted a more rewarding scheme for teachers. It dropped Schemes of Service which guaranteed automatic promotion for teachers who furthered their studies.
The Commission is more concerned with teacher performance than mere academic papers according to Nancy Macharia. TSC replaced SoS with Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.
TSC has repeatedly said CPG is superior to SoS and that it has ended job stagnation for teachers. However, the outcry from Diploma teachers and teachers who have upgraded their certificates has raised concern about the effectiveness of CPG.
The only thing the teachers have received from TSC is a thank you note together with acknowledgment letters after submitting their certificates.
Teachers use their degree certificates only when TSC advertises for administrative promotional vacancies.
Additionally, to have degree secondary option, the deployed teachers must also have at least C+ in KCSE and at least C+ in the teaching subjects.
The commission has deployed a total of 1,000 p1 graduate teachers to teach in high school this financial year (2021 – 2022). TSC said the teachers will help in supporting the 100 percent transition from primary to secondary schools.
TSC had advertised 1,000 deployment posts in 2019 and another 1,000 in September last year. The Commission advertised 1,000 deployment posts in July this year for PTE certificate holders to apply.
The teachers deployed started at job grade C2 at a salary scale of 34,955 per month and will move to job grade C3 upon completion of three years as stipulated in Career Progression Guidelines for teachers (CPG)
At least 60,000 high school teachers will, in March and April next year, be trained in preparation for the rollout of junior secondary.
