A petition that seeks for an investigation into the discrimination in promotion to higher job groups of teachers with a qualification of a diploma in education has been filled in the Senate.
In the petition, activist Salesio Thuranira who is the petitioner seeks for the promotion of the said group of teachers in line with Section 12 of the CBA between KUPPET and TSC (2017-2021) that recognizes and advocates for career progression in teaching service.
In the document, Thuranira argues that the employer (TSC) only promote those who joined the Service with a Bachelor of Education Degree from JG C2 to JG C3, an action he says is against the principle of fair industrial practices of fair remuneration.
Thuranira further sites discrimination on the fact that PI teachers who have pursued degrees got promoted to C3 yet diploma teachers who have pursued the same degrees are not.
According to him, the move has already lowered the morale of thousands of Diploma teachers across the country causing disorder and unease in many staffrooms in the secondary education subsector.
The petitioner further seeks for the recognition of Bachelor of Education Degree Certificate. He argues that many of the aforementioned teachers have since the attainment of their Diploma in Teacher Education qualifications and proceeded to attaining Bachelor of Education Degrees but despite forwarding these certificates and supporting transcripts to the TSC for recognition, the commission only responded with a ‘Letter of Acknowledgement, promising to communicate later. Many have waited for this communication for close to ten years.
The lack of recognition falls short Of the TSC regulations (2015) section 73 which provides that when promoting a teacher, the commission shall consider the existing schemes of service and among other parameters, the academic and professional qualifications.
In addition, he seeks for the amendment of Teachers’ Service Commission recruitment marking scheme for secondary education teachers.
According to him, the commission has been using a new marking scheme in the conduct of interviews for the recruitment of new teachers joining the service for the past four years.
He says that the marking scheme is so skewed that it disadvantages a Diploma in Education holder even before the interview begins as it puts a lot of weight and marks in the degree holders’ hands leaving diploma holders to scramble for the few remaining marks.
This he says has seen many teachers with Diploma in Education qualification shy away from TSC interviews because they see no need for attending an interview whose outcome is already pre-determined through skewed allocation of marks on the interview parameters.
The petitioner now wants the senate to summon TSC leadership to answer to the issues raised in the petition; Stop forthwith the selective implementation of the 2017-2021 CBA and the TSC Regulations (2015); issuance of an order to TSC to revert back to Common Cadre Establishment Promotions for teachers and promote all diploma teachers stagnated at JG C2 as per TSC Regulations (2015) that he says ought to be amended.
The petitioner further wants the senate to issue appropriate recommendations for the benefit of constitutional rights of the Diploma teacher in Kenya.
