Teachers service commission, on Tuesday, transferred 3,094 teachers who are expected to hand over reigns by December 28.
The move affected mostly head teachers of Primary and Secondary schools who had served at one location for more that nine years.
The move came a day after Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) had written letters to the commission protesting the decision.
TSC chief executive officer Nancy Macharia explained that the transfers resulted from retirements of head teachers that had attained the requisite age.
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“As a result, deputy heads who are qualified and have exemplary performance records have been promoted to headship positions and transferred accordingly.
“Inevitably, some of the serving heads have also been transferred to take the positions that fell vacant. This is necessary in order to match performance and experience to the enrolment and level of the institutions,” stated the CEO.
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This comes a year after another controversial shuffle of 1,065 principles that left education stakeholders up in arms.
Most transferred principal’s families claimed that they had been affected by the transfers which were inter-county.
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The complains even attracted the attention of President Uhuru Kenyatta who directed the two bodies to iron out their differences.
The transfers come a year after 1,065 principals were shuffled in a controversial delocalisation programme by the commission, leading to protests from education stakeholders who attracted the attention of President Kenyatta. The Head of State asked for a review of the policy to ensure it does not break up families.
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In making the transfers, Ms Macharia said the commission had considered a number of factors, including number of years pending retirement and exceptional circumstances such as health, where appropriate documentation was available.
“Accordingly, TSC county directors should ensure that handing or taking over will have been concluded by December 28 and a status report submitted to the staffing director by December 31. Any issues by individual heads arising from the transfer will be handled by the receiving county directors, who have been advised accordingly,” Ms Macharia said.
In a letter to the commission dated December 17, Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion asked Ms Macharia to immediately comply with the President’s directive to stop the transfer policy, which he said was disrupting families and adding no value to teaching.
“The President’s directive ought to be respected and complied with,” Mr Sossion said.
But Ms Macharia said TSC had conducted the transfers pursuant to Article 237(2) of the Constitution, the TSC Act of 2012, and the Code of Regulations for Teachers (2015), which mandate it to assign teachers for service in any public school or institution.
“This is primarily intended to achieve equity in teacher distribution for improved learning outcomes in public schools,” she said.