Only two weeks before the start of the new school year, approximately 14,613 teachers have been relocated and are expected to report to their new stations.
The transfers were requested by teachers, according to a circular issued by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to Regional Directors on January 9. The transfers, according to TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia, were coordinated to address understaffing and to balance staffing across different counties.
10,934 primary school teachers, 1,948 primary head teachers, and 1,316 secondary school teachers would be transferred, according to the list that was made public.
226 secondary school principals and 189 deputy head teachers are also impacted.
By Monday of the next week, January 16, 2023, all impacted principals, according to Dr. Macharia, must report to their new stations.
“The Commission authorized many requests for teacher transfers between counties to take place in January 2023. To report to schools on January 16, 2023, all head teachers and principals must be transferred with immediate effect, according to Macharia.
On January 23, 2023, when schools begin their first term under the new academic year, the remaining teachers will report. Collins Oyuu, the secretary general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, applauded the decision and said the procedure was long overdue.
Principals, head teachers, and deputy head teachers made up the majority of our membership. That makes up a sizable portion of the professors who were relocated, according to Oyuu.
He said that the delocalization policy, which has since been reversed, affected the majority of the instructors. While instructors may be reassigned for a variety of reasons, such as administrative or upon request, Oyuu said that some transfers in the past had been punitive.
“By no measure, these transfers cannot be considered punitive. According to Mr. Oyuu, teachers should always feel as though their transfer to a new location has a legitimate basis.
He asked TSC to make sure that people who were being transferred were placed in settings where they could work and generate outcomes, not in settings where they felt penalized.
“Most of the professors wasted Fridays and Mondays traveling to and from their rural homes, but they can now use that time well.”
According to Dr. Macharia, 120 additional teachers who had requested transfers were not placed and their cases would be handled once they have addressed the teacher shortage and personnel imbalance in the requested schools.
“Of the 14,733 applications that were submitted as of November 30, 2022, the board approved the transfer of 14,613 of them.
The remaining 120 teachers were unable to find suitable replacements for them at their current stations, Macharia continued.
According to Dr. Macharia, Regional Directors will handle 12,019 applications, while 2,594 teachers will be transferred between regions.
When broken down by region, the Rift Valley will lose the most instructors, with 3,962 already accepted for transfer.
Of them, 3,006 will be made up of 260 secondary teachers, 48 deputy head teachers, 580 primary school principals, and 68 secondary school principals.
With about 3,578 people to be evacuated, the Eastern region is second.
2,740 primary teachers, 434 head teachers, 314 secondary school teachers, 39 deputy head teachers, and 51 secondary school principals are among them.
There will be a change in stations for 1,618 primary teachers, 196 head teachers, 154 secondary school teachers, 30 deputy head teachers, and 5 secondary school principals in Western.
In Nyanza, there have been transfers of 1,084 primary teachers, 220 head teachers, 64 secondary teachers, 20 deputy head teachers, and 68 secondary school principals.
Also approved for transfer in the Coast region are 444 primary teachers, 98 head teachers, 10 secondary teachers, 6 deputy head teachers, and 2 secondary school principals.
Around 296 primary school teachers, 59 head teachers, 118 secondary school teachers, seven deputy head teachers, and 11 secondary school principals will relocate to Central.
However, according to Dr. Macharia, some transfers between counties will be handled directly by the TSC Headquarters.
She said that this will have an impact on 1,746 primary school teachers, 361 head teachers, 396 teachers in senior schools, 39 deputy head teachers, and 52 principals in secondary schools.
Macharia pleaded with the Regional Directors to make sure that the gender balance and teacher shortage in the majority of understaffed schools and counties are taken into account when correcting the teacher imbalance during the exercise.
In order to promote gender inclusion, gender parity must be taken into account when posting teachers to the schools they requested, she said.
Heads and deputy heads of institutions should be posted to schools that fit their existing school category, size, level of enrollment, and academic performance.
Additionally, Macharia ordered that all newly hired teachers and any postings made during a leave of absence in the future be made in accordance with the demand and shortage.
