Teachers are headed for another confrontation with the Government over promotion of some 53,000 teachers.
Wilson Sossion
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said it is revising promotion guidelines for all its employees even as the giant union said their deadline on teachers’ promotion expires tomorrow.
TSC Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni said new promotion rules will be out soon to guide the exercise eve as teachers accused it of ‘diluting the quality of education.’ “We are currently revising our policies on teachers promotion and we shall soon communicate on the same,” he said.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion however, said yesterday all deserving teachers must be promoted by end of tomorrow.
“What we are asking for are rights enshrined in the schemes of service and codes of regulation. If TSC fails to do the needful by end of tomorrow, then we shall invoke the necessary provisions in law,” he said.
Sossion said the National Executive Council and the union Advisory Council will be summoned to provide direction on the issue.
“This is not a matter for negotiations. Our deadline is real. We did not elect the Jubilee government to withdraw teachers’ benefits. Instead they should enhance them,” he said.
PROMOTIONS DEFINED
Lengoiboni challenged the union to specify which type of promotions they are making reference to.
“When they talk about promotions they must be specific. Which promotions are they talking about?”said Lengoiboni. Sossion said all teachers who have graduated after successfully undertaking certificate, diploma and degree courses must climb up the ladder. “We are talking about promotions on merit and the recognition of new qualifications,” he said.
He said last year alone, some 10,000 teachers were not promoted after successfully undertaking professional courses.
“By the end of this year we shall also have a similar number of teachers graduating from various colleges but we now want all of them promoted without further delay,” said Sossion.
By AUGUSTINE ODUOR, The Standard