TSC Unveils Guidelines On Teacher Transfers

NAIROBI,Kenya, Apr, 7 – During the announcement of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam results, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia, announced plans to conduct a ‘staffing balance’ exercise in a bid to ensure that various parts of the country are not disadvantaged in terms of sharing limited resources amidst a shortage of teachers.

The teacher’s employer has now directed its Regional Directors to submit a comprehensive report on school staffing status by May 9,2022.

During the exercise, some teachers will now be transferred to other schools.

TSC field officers have been conducting routine exercises of assessing their sub counties to ensure that all schools have a balanced teacher to learner ratio ahead of the start of the new academic year.

With the current teacher deficit, newly recruited teachers will now be posted to areas in serious need. The commission will also factor in the age of the teacher before the transfer.

Teachers aged 56 and above will be exempt from the exercise.

“The process of staffing of schools is guided by staffing norms whose key objective is to achieve the optimal utilisation of teachers and in so doing, reduce disparities in teacher distribution,” said Macharia in a circular to Regional Directors.

The irregular distribution is said to have been the cause of the imbalance in teacher staffing for years with Regional Directors now expected to work with County Directors to ensure the rationalisation exercise achieves equitable redistribution.

“The teacher staffing imbalance continues to limit the initiative towards equitable distribution of teaching resource. If unchecked, this will adversely impact learning outcomes in learning institutions,” said Macharia.

TSC has also revealed that teachers with disabilities and with necessary certification will also not be affected by the transfers as well as those who have publicly declared their marital status.

Alternatively they will be stationed within the same sub county or neighborhood in a move seen to protect the family unit.

During the exercise the commission will also consider teachers that have applied for transfers with the commission saying it will follow among other criteria, the teacher’s security and gender balance.

Macharia further said that the transfer of teachers will be carried out during the school holidays to ensure stability and smooth running of the school programme.

According to TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, there is a shortage of 114,581 teachers in primary and post primary institutions as a result of the increased enrollment arising from the 100 per cent transition policy and registration of new schools across the country.

“Despite the shortage the commission continues to ensure ardent utilization of existing teachers in primary and secondary schools,” said Macharia.

TSC receives an annual funding that enables them to recruit 5,000 teachers – This however is not enough with the TSC hoping treasury will approve its request of hiring 20,000 teachers annually.