Hire more TSC officials to cut backlog, Uhuru told

By ALLY JAMAH

Calls are mounting for President Uhuru Kenyatta to prioritise the appointment of crucial positions in the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

Stakeholders have voiced concern that the posts have remained vacant for too long, thereby hampering the smooth running of the teachers’ employer.

Yesterday, Parliamentary Committee on Education member Kisoi Munyao called on the President to place the issue high on his agenda in the New Year so that TSC can deal effectively with urgent decisions, including promotion of teachers and recruitment of Early Childhood Education teachers.

Munyao asserted that the giant organisation could not run effectively under the hands of only three commissioners instead of the required nine.

Currently, TSC has only three commissioners: Saadia Kontoma, Clephas Tirop and Salome Gichura.

“We call on the President to set up the panel that will generate new and credible names which Parliament can approve. We will also prioritise that issue when we resume sittings of the House,” he said.

He added: “Having TSC without its full team is a disservice to the crucial teaching fraternity since there are many weighty decisions to be taken and the work to be done by the commissioner is a lot. Otherwise we will continue seeing unnecessary strikes by teachers over unresolved issues.

Under the law, the President is required to send a list of appointees to the commission to Parliament for approval before the names can be gazetted.

Among crucial issues in TSC’s in-tray include recruitment of an additional 10,000 teachers by January as demanded by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), resolve the membership row between Knut and its rival Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers.

Previous lists of chairperson and commissioners submitted by the President to Parliament were vetoed by MPs after it emerged that candidates who had topped competitive interviews for the position were not on the list.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said TSC had a backlog of issues to deal with due to the shortage of commissioners.

He cited the backlog in disciplinary cases facing teachers, saying some had been in the waiting list for as long as a year, when such cases need to be dealt with within six months.

Sossion revealed that the Office of the President has in the last few days requested Knut to submit its names to the panel that will conduct fresh interviews for the positions.