TSC Transfers 15,824 Teachers, Nancy Macharia Says
As of April of this year, 15,824 delocalized teachers had been moved by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The TSC CEO, Dr. Nancy Macharia, told the Senate National Cohesion Committee about this when she was there to answer questions about how teachers are hired and moved.
Macharia also said that more moves are on the way for teachers who applied, but that other things must be taken into account first.
But it was shocking when senators asked for a return to the delocalization policy. They said that if teachers were allowed to go back to their home counties of choice, it would leave some areas without enough teachers.
“The commission sends teachers back to their home counties if there are openings and the teachers want to move. As of April, the commission had moved 15,824 teachers to the areas they wanted, Mrs. Macharia told the committee.
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Mr. Mandago said that the National Assembly was wrong to make TSC cancel the delocalization policy. He said that the move goes against Article 10(2)(b) of the Constitution, which says that “human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination, and protection of the marginalized” are national ideals and principles of government.
“As the upper house, we need to look at that decision again and vote against it,” he said.
The Kenya Kwanza platform says, “To help teachers deal with the problems caused by delocalization, we will replace this policy with a nationalization program that will give teachers who want to work in other parts of the country an incentive to do so.”
More than 50 primary school teachers camped out in front of the Tharaka Nithi County TSC office in Chuka town for a night last week. They had been there since May 10 to ask to be moved back to their home sub-counties.
Teachers from Tharaka North, Tharaka South, and Chiakariga sub-counties work in Embu, Meru, and Kitui counties. However, after President William Ruto’s administration got rid of the delocalization strategy, they asked to be moved back to their home sub-counties.
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But when they took their move letters to the TSC office in Tharaka Nithi County, they were told that the only open positions were in Igambang’ombe, Maara, and Chuka sub-counties.
The teachers told the press that they would stay at the county TSC office until they got what they wanted. They protested at the office, which caused it to close.
A teacher from Tharaka North sub-county who has been working in Kitui County said that there are many schools with as few as four teachers in Tharaka North, Tharaka South, and Chiakariga sub-counties, and that their bosses are sending their friends there because of hardship pay.
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He said that they have strong evidence that teachers from other counties have used corruption to get jobs in hard-to-staff places, hurting the people who live there.
“We asked to be moved to schools close to our homes for different reasons, and we won’t go to schools in other counties,” he said.
Mrs. Jane Mwangi, who is from Tharaka South and teaches in Meru County, says that most of the young teachers want to move to schools close to their homes so they can be with their husbands and start families.
She said that most of the teachers’ marriages have ended because they can’t go home to see their husbands often enough because they make so little money.
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She also said that some of the teachers are moving from places where life is hard, and if they lose the hardship income, they won’t be able to pay back their big loans.
“Someone like me. I’m married, but I’ve never really enjoyed being married because I’ve always had to work away from my husband,” Mrs. Mwangi said.
Mr. Mutinda Muriungi, who has been working in Meru County’s Tigania East, said that the county TSC head had refused to talk to them and that they would keep camping out in front of her office until she heard their cries.
Njeru Mutani, the executive secretary of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Tharaka Nithi County chapter, and Ndia Gwatia, the executive secretary of the Tharaka district, joined the teachers on Tuesday morning and said that their needs must be met.
Mr. Mutani, who is also a national director for Knut, said that the teachers have been working far from their homes for many years and need to be moved closer to their families.
Mr. Mutani said, “Teachers are paid very little, and they can’t live away from their homes, so they have to rent houses.”
Mr. Gwatia said that it was wrong for the county TSC office to send teachers from other areas to Tharaka South, Tharaka North, and Chiakariga sub-counties, which hurt the people who live there.
“Teachers from other sub-counties and even the neighboring Meru and Embu counties are asking to be taken to Tharaka South, Tharaka North, and Chiakariga sub-counties because of the hardship allowances, but the locals must be given priority,” said Mr. Gwatia.
Mr. Gwatia said that they had talked to Rosemary Sokotian, the head of the county TSC, who was out of the office but had promised to take care of the problem soon.
We were not able to get in touch with the county deputy TSC head, despite our best efforts.
TSC Transfers 15,824 Teachers, Nancy Macharia Says
