Members of Parliament have put the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on notice over the upcoming recruitment of 35,550 new staff who will work in primary and junior secondary schools.
The lawmakers yesterday told TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia that the recruitment and promotion of
teachers have always been riddled with corruption at the expense of merit and experience, a practice, they say, should not be replicated in the recruitment this year.
The National Assembly Committee on Education, that is chaired by Mr Julius Melly (Tinderet) regretted that promotions and recruitment had for long
depended on how much one was willing to pay or if one knew someone at TSC, leaving thousands of qualified and deserving teachers unemployed.
The lawmakers pointed out that, while some teachers get permanent employment even three months after leaving college, others who graduated as far back as 2010 are yet to get employment due to corruption.
“Promotions of teachers have been riddled with corruption. There are those who joined the profession recently but, within a few years, have risen through the ranks just because they know who to talk to and what to do,” Mr Melly said.
To avoid money exchanging hands during this years’ recruitment, Mr Melly told TSC to put more oversight measures during the process.
“You can engage members here to go to their various constituencies to monitor the process and listen to what people say about the it,” Mr Melly said.
Mr Timothy Kipchumba (Marakwet West) told the TSC boss to ensure that this years’ recruitment is done in a fair way to give the deserving teachers a chance to serve the country.
insisted that no teacher has ever stagnated in the same position for decades.
The TSC boss further denied allegations that some 13,000 teachers who were poised for promotions had been held back due to infighting among the commissioners.
She blamed the delay on the busy academic calendar but promised to effect the pending promotions upon completion of the ongoing national exams.
Promotions, Ms Macharia told the lawmakers, is every teacher’s right and is done after three years and TSC does not charge any amount.
“We have an appraisal system. If a teacher has had a successful service, then he or she should be automatically promoted after three years because that is their right,” Ms Macharia said.