The Teachers Service Commission has approved the relocation of 14,613 teachers to their home counties, bringing the agency’s delocalization policy to an end.
Only 120 teachers’ requests for transfers were denied because TSC has yet to find replacements.
When TSC opened the window, 14,733 teachers from around the country had submitted requests for transfer to their respective counties.
According to a memo seen by the media, TSC will continue to look for a match for the pending transfers before approving the remaining requests.
“All teachers and deputy headteachers are reporting on January 23, while school heads are to report on January 16,” the memo reads.
According to the figures, 226 school principals, 189 deputy headteachers, and 1,948 primary school principals were transferred to counties of their choice.
There will be 1,316 secondary teachers and 10,934 primary school teachers transferred.
The commission stated that TSC regional heads will be in charge of transfers within their respective regions.
Teachers who are transferred from one region to another will be managed by the commission’s headquarters.
“The purpose of this memo is to seek approval to mail the list of teachers to be transferred within regions and the memo to the regional headquarters,” the memo reads.
This aims to allow teachers to change workstations within the time frame specified.
According to the memo, 12,019 teachers would be transferred within regions, while another 2,594 would be transferred across regions.
Another message sent to regional directors requested that school heads’ handing over or taking over reports be submitted by February 10.
“Ensure that all handing and taking over of school heads is overseen by TSC County Director and MOE,” the memo reads.
The delocalization program has provoked outcry among teachers and politicians, with the Kenya Kwanza government vowing to reverse it.
President William Ruto’s administration described the program as harsh and targeted at ruining families.
The National Assembly’s departmental committee on education and research had already urged the TSC to approve all teacher transfers.
On January 15, Education Committee Chairman Julius Melly stated that data on transfers would be required.
“By January 31, any teacher who is asking to reverse delocalisation should have been sorted, “ Melly said.
Malulu Injendi, vice chairman of the committee, questioned why TSC chairman Jamleck Muturi appeared to be unaware that delocalization had been canceled.
“I think at this point we now need to work with timelines. We give this panel till January to finalize all 14,000 cases,” Injendi said.
The TSC legal officer asked if the transfers might be done on a case-by-case basis, but the MPs declined the request.
“You will be recruiting more than 30,000 teachers so you have no excuse for that,” Melly said
The delocalization policy was scrapped after MPs pressured TSC to review it.
On November 3, Parliament passed the resolution introduced by Lurambi MP Titus Khamala.
Khamala proposed the motion in order to halt the ongoing practice of delocalizing teachers from their workstations.
This means that if TSC transfers a teacher, they should be sent to a different school within the zone in which they work.
