TSC Sets Strict Requirements for Primary Headteacher Promotion to Principal.
Only a day after elementary school headteachers asked promotion from headteacher to principal grades, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) responded with a mandate.
According to Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) chairman Johnson Nzioka, head teachers are calling for increased pay in accordance with their responsibilities as administrators of the Junior Secondary School (JSS) located within their institutions.
The junior secondary primary head teachers, who also act as acting principals, would like to progressively move up from their present C5 grade to grade D1 in accordance with the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).
However, TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia stated that a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is required in order to elevate the headteachers during the KEPSHA meeting in Mombasa.
According to Macharia, in order for the matter to be addressed in the upcoming CBA (2025–2029), the headteachers should submit the suggestion through the teachers unions.
Nancy Macharia informed the headteachers of the elementary schools, “We cannot review salaries without a formal Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
“I’ve heard about additional obligations. These are extra duties brought on by the adoption of CBC, such as junior school administration, which also has an impact on terms and conditions of service.
We have a memo from the unions outlining our expectations for the upcoming CBA. Macharia continued, “Ask the unions to include this issue to be addressed in the CBA.”
TSC has been providing head teachers who host JSS in their schools with a one-year contract (January to December) to serve as principals.
The head teachers want their title changed from headteacher to principle on a permanent and pensionable basis, even though the contract has been extended annually.
Additionally, the head teachers are requesting payment for the time they have managed the junior secondary school.
“We have been given more responsibility to lead JSS for the past two years. But that wasn’t taken into account by the government when it came to pay increases,” Nzioka remarked.
They say they are under a lot of stress from managing so many students. According to Nzioka, “the number of students keeps increasing, but schools are understaffed as we lose some teachers to natural attrition.”
Overworked staff make it impossible to provide high-quality training. “She (Dr. Macharia) needs to show us how we should deal with the quantity of teachers in schools,” Nzioka noted.
According to TSC, the government has employed 57,000 JSS instructors in the last 12 months. By the next year, however, there will be 3.8 million pupils enrolled in schools.
TSC Sets Strict Requirements for Primary Headteacher Promotion to Principal.
