The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Sub-County Directors (SCDs) have written to the Commission’s CEO Dr Nancy Macharia to raise serious grievances with regard to how they are being treated by their employer.
SCDs through their National Chairman and head of their Welfare group are also requesting for a face to face meeting with the CEO.
They cited a number of issues that are hindering them from discharging their duties effectively and also lowering their morale.
Firstly, they want to be paid facilitation fee for teacher recruitment exercise that took place in November and December last year.
SCDs lament that they were not facilitated during this crucial exercise, despite the extensive logistical demands.
Secondly, they want the Commission to facilitate them for the ongoing teacher promotional interviews across the country. They said that lack of facilitation for these interviews is a recurring problem that continues to undermine the smooth execution of this crucial exercise.
Thirdly, the officers are requesting to be paid the money they used to ensure smooth Junior Secondary School (JSS) teacher retooling exercise that took place last year in December. They stated that they were not provided with necessary resources to enable them to carry out their work smoothly.
Fourthly, the directors at the sub county level have complained about their allowances being lower than teachers in the same job groups. For instance, they have noted that their hardship for those at Job Group D4 is KSh27,000 while that of a teacher in the same job group is KSh32,000 which is a difference of KSh5,000
Similarly, they say that their house allowance for the same job group is KSh16,000 while teachers in the same grade pocket KSh18,000. On the same vein, SCDs earn commuter allowance amounting to KSh12,000 while teachers take home KSh14,000.
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Fifthly, the SCDs have raised concern about stagnation in the same job groups for too long. Many of them have remained in the same grade for over 10 years, but teachers have been promoted up to three times within the same period. They have observed that this disparity has demoralised them and also tainted the integrity of the much hyped Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) implemented by TSC.
Sixthly, they have lamented that it is a tall order for them to oversee principals who are in higher job groups than them. This scenario has put them in an intimidating position, they said.
They also want the Commission to allocate them adequate quarterly imprest to meet their operational needs. For instance, they have complained about fuel allocation of KSh11,000 for three months saying that amount is too low due to the rising cost of living.
They also appeal to their employer to enhance their budgets. The officials are also demanding sanitation allocation to be hiked from the current KSh500 per quarter to slightly more.
Lastly, they have accused TSC of failing to fulfill its promise on quarterly stipends. They say this amount was supposed to be wired directly to SDCs bank accounts, however, these promises were never fulfilled hampering effective delivery of services.
“These challenges hinder our ability to deliver on our mandate effectively. We kindly urge the Commission to review and address these matters to ensure SCDs are adequately supported, motivated, and empowered to perform their duties,” say the directors in the letter.
They noted that they are willing to engage with the Commission on these grievances so as to find a solution for effective and efficient execution of duties.
By Joseph Mambili
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