The recent promotion list from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has left many senior teachers feeling sidelined and frustrated. Despite dedicating years to their profession, teachers over 50 find themselves missing from the list of 25,000 promoted educators, as posted on the TSC website.
On Tuesday, schools nationwide faced disruptions as these teachers, eager to see if their hard work had finally been recognized, turned to tech-savvy colleagues for help. They wanted to check if their efforts were acknowledged as promised in the interview score sheet.
Sadly, this situation echoes the interviews from December 2023 and January 2024, where many educators aged 50 to 55 were also excluded.
One senior teacher from Nandi County shared their frustration, “I’ve searched multiple times, but the results are either not found or show no matching.” Of the promoted teachers, 75% are from primary schools, while the remaining 25% come from secondary institutions.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has voiced concerns about the promotion process, especially regarding their members. Allegations about TSC’s recent actions have drawn criticism from various education stakeholders. Just last week, a notable incident occurred when politicians reportedly distributed employment letters to trained teachers.
Many educators are questioning the credibility of the promotion list, wondering why they were left out despite the score sheets used before the interviews. A teacher from Nyeri expressed their disappointment, “I don’t think these promotions are based on the score sheets we saw before the interviews. I was confident, given my age, that this time would be different. Now at 57, I’ve lost hope of securing a better retirement due to a higher grade.”
These repeated disappointments highlight perceived flaws in the Career Progression Guidelines introduced in 2017. Many educators feel these guidelines haven’t lived up to their promises of career advancement, leading to increasing calls for a complete overhaul or abandonment.
