The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) was on Tuesday put on the spot by MPs over what they termed as biased and opaque promotions.
The lawmakers demanded transparency in the recent allocation of 25,252 slots, citing inequality and political interference.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia defended the process, stating it was legally grounded and decentralised to ensure regional representation.
“The commission ensured opportunities were open to all, with interviews conducted at sub-county level to enhance accessibility and fairness,” she said.
The slots were awarded earlier this year after the National Treasury allocated Sh1 billion for the exercise. The promoted teachers include 5,690 who applied for vacancies advertised in November and 19,943 who responded to calls made in December last year.
Dr Macharia added that special consideration was given to teachers in acting capacities, those who had stagnated in one job group for long and the elderly.
Other evaluation criteria included Teacher Performance Appraisal scores and involvement in co-curricular activities.
However, MPs raised concerns over the credibility of the process, alleging that some qualified teachers were overlooked while others had been promoted multiple times in a short period.
Committee chair Julius Melly questioned the logic behind what appeared to be a uniform distribution of promotions across counties, saying it deviated from past practices and ignored population dynamics.
“How do you promote someone three times in a row while others have been stuck in one job group for over a decade?” said Melly.
The committee directed the commission to return with detailed data, including the number of applicants per sub-county, the promotion template used, and the scoring metrics. [Lewis Nyaundi]
“We’re asking the chairman of the commission, Jamleck Muturi, to provide full documentation on the application and evaluation process. We want to know how fairness and merit were determined,” Melly said.
Kitutu Masaba MP, Clive Gisairo, also accused the commission of playing politics in the equal distribution of teachers.
Gisairo argues that the commission is at liberty to promote deserving teachers and redistribute them to other regions as they hold the mandate to promote the tutors as well.
“TSC went ahead and gave all counties the same number of teachers which goes against whether you are employing teachers or you are playing a balancing act,” Gisairo questioned.
Julius Taitamu, the Igembe North legislator questioned how teachers from smaller counties ended up with the same promotion slots as those in populous counties.
Taitamu termed the distribution skewed and did not honour the principle of fair distribution and equity.
