71,000 teachers promoted in the past five years

In a significant stride towards improving education in the country, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has promoted some 71,000 teachers in the past five years.

TSC chief executive Dr Nancy Macharia pointed out this achievement during her address at the 47th Annual Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) meeting in Mombasa.

"During the current financial year, in total we promoted 36,504 teachers, bringing the total number to 71,212 over the last five years," said Dr Macharia.

This milestone includes the promotion of 545 deputy principals to headship roles, distributed across various schools nationwide.

Looking ahead, Dr Macharia revealed plans for continued progress in the next financial year.

"We are committed to addressing the backlog of promotions in the financial year 2024/2025 and we are grateful to the government for allocating us Sh1 billion for this purpose," she said.

Dr Macharia also revealed that over the same five-year period, 3,445 new schools have been established, with 160 new institutions added this year alone. These schools require skilled leadership, and the TSC is keen on promoting qualified teachers to principal positions.

She encouraged school principals to motivate eligible teachers to apply for upcoming vacancies.

“As principals, I urge you to encourage eligible teachers in your schools to apply for vacancies once advertised,” said Dr Macharia.

In March this year, a total of 36,000 teachers were moved into new job groups out of the 65,000 anticipated.

She also revealed the commission’s plans to convert intern teachers to permanent and pensionable status once government funds is available. Additionally, an appeal process has been initiated for the 742 Junior Secondary School intern teachers recently dismissed for absconding duty, with each case being reviewed on merit.