Court lifts employment age limit set by TSC

A labour court in Nairobi has opened doors for persons over 45 years to seek employment as teachers.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court declared a circular by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) limiting the age of employment to those below 45 years as discriminatory, unreasonable and unconstitutional.

Justice Hellen Wasilwa said it was illogical to set regulations limiting the entry of teachers at 45 years bearing in mind the high unemployment rate in the country.

“The respondent (TSC) has not explained why they capped this age at 45 and not say 40 years. In this court’s view, the lower capping of age at 18 years would be reasonable because it is the age of majority in Kenya,” ruled Justice Wasilwa.

The case was filed by Lempaa Soyinka, a former teacher who is now a practicing lawyer.

Mr Lempaa’s dispute with his former employer was that the retirement age in the public service has been set at 60 years. As such, restricting the entry age to below 45 years was denying deserving Kenyans the opportunity to serve as teachers for the remaining active 15 years.

The lawyer argued that the decision was unreasonable and discriminatory since it was not justified in law.

TSC commenced a countrywide recruitment exercise on January 29, 2019, after it advertised for positions seeking qualified Kenyans of 45 years and below.

In court, Lempaa lamented that the restriction had locked him out as he was older than the set age. He argued that despite the age, he had qualifications enumerated in the advertisement by TSC.

According to TSC, the advertisement was guided by regulation 57 of its Code of Regulations for Teachers which requires recruitment of persons who are below 45 years.

Commission’s reply

“The age restriction was introduced to maintain efficiency, institutionalise succession planning and persons agile enough to engage the expectation of learners in public schools,” the commission replied.

“Consequently, the age limit having been set in law and the respondent having been guided by the law in setting the same, the act was reasonable, justifiable and within the law,” TSC added.