Hopes of about 20,000 primary principals to be confirmed as principals of Junior School (JSS) have been dashed after their employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) noted that it touches on the terms and conditions of service, which should be captured in the next cycle of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Addressing the anxious teachers who were waiting for the pronouncement at the Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) in Mombasa today, TSC Chief Executive Officer Dr Nancy Macharia urged them to work closely with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) to ensure that their new job description, including the additional responsibilities of managing Junior School, is correctly captured.
Dr Macharia added that if that is done and contained in the next 2025-2029 CBA, which she also asked the National Assembly Committee Chairman of Education and Research Julius Melly to support, then the commission will have no problem giving them the designation of Principal.
At the same time, she urged the head teachers to be kind and have a human heart by filling and submitting the casualty forms for newly employed teachers immediately they report to avoid the situation where they go for long without salaries.
Dr Macharia also urged Special Needs Education (SNE) teachers to apply in large numbers for the recently advertised promotional positions, lamenting that even after the commission lowered the qualifications, many still don’t apply.
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She revealed further that the 20,000 intern teachers whose positions have been advertised will be posted to schools by January when the schools reopen, urging the National Assembly through Melly to avail more funds for promoting more teachers.
She thanked the head teachers for successfully overseeing effective transition and also managing the recently concluded KPSEA well.
KNUT had urged the commission to review the teachers Career Progression Guidelines (CPGs) to expand the promotional scope of head teachers from the current D1 to D5.
Secretary General Collins Oyuu had called for the TSC to compensate the teachers for the additional responsibilities of managing Junior School.
By Roy Hezron
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