- The Teachers Service Commission is yet to effect transfer requests of 21,544 teachers.
- This is as it emerged that Nairobi City County is the most preferred region by teachers seeking transfers.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
The Teachers Service Commission is yet to effect transfer requests of 21,544 teachers.
This is as it emerged that Nairobi City County is the most preferred region by teachers seeking transfers.
In a document submitted to the Senate Committee on Education by TSC, a total of 36,277 teachers applied for transfers between November 1 last year and January 31 this year.
However, TSC says, of the teachers, 14,733 were matched and approved while 21,544 are pending.
TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia told the committee that the transfer of teachers from one institution to another is based on the need for equitable distribution and optimal utilisation of teachers.
The transfers also depend on the availability of vacancies in the station, the need for replacement, existing staffing norms and medical grounds certified by a registered medical practitioner.
The document signed on behalf of Macharia by the Director of Legal, Labour and Industrial Relations Cavin Anyuor, explains that not all teachers applied to be transferred to their home counties.
“Some transfer requests are for transfers other than home counties. As an employer, the commission cannot dictate to a teacher to apply to be transferred to a particular county. Similarly, the commission cannot decline a transfer request simply because a teacher hasn’t applied to be taken to his home county,” the document reads in part.
The teachers' employer also warned against what she termed as the misinterpretation of the reversal of the delocalization policy to mean that teachers must now not only teach in their home counties but also in their villages.
According to TSC, if the commission was to move every teacher to their home counties, regions that have not produced enough of their own as teachers will suffer from under-staffing
"….Those that have excess teachers would be overstaffed, leading to wastage of resources," TSC said, adding that Arid and semi-arid areas as well as the hard-to-staff areas would mostly be the victims.
TSC also held that the commission must first ensure that the station a teacher is leaving has a suitable replacement and that there is a vacancy in the preferred station before effecting a transfer request.
TSC is implementing the delocalisation policy following the government's move to post teachers to their home counties.
Data submitted to the Senate by the commission also revealed that most teachers prefer to work in Nairobi City County.
During the period, 1,885 teachers applied to be transferred to the capital city while 76 requested to be transferred out of Nairobi.
Some 41 requests out of 1,162 to primary schools and four to secondary schools out of 723 were approved by TSC by end of January.
During the same period, 45 primary school teachers left the capital while only one secondary school teacher left.
Bungoma county received the highest number of transfer requests by primary school teachers who wanted to move in at 1,336 teachers.
The number of those who wanted to be transferred out of Bungoma County stood at 1,074 teachers.
Mombasa County is also a favourite among secondary school teachers, with 340 applying to move to the Coastal City against 55 who asked to be moved out.
Kajiado County also emerged as one of the most preferred counties after receiving 237 transfer requests for teachers in secondary schools against 94 who requested to be transferred out of the county.
For primary school teachers, 486 applied to work in the county against 434 who asked to be taken elsewhere.