The CEO of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Nancy Macharia is set to retire early next year, bringing to an end her ten-year term at the helm, she has announced.
Ms Macharia was appointed to the office in June 2015 and was reappointed again in 2020. She made the announcement of her imminent retirement in Mombasa when she addressed the annual general meeting of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).
“Sincerely, I have no words to express my most profuse appreciation to Knut for the utmost professionalism with which you have dealt with me over the last nine years. As I approach the tail-end of my ten-year service as secretary and CEO of the TSC, I can only look back with an incredible tinge of satisfaction over our enviable work relationship in office. I wish you the very best as you work to elevate the teaching profession to even higher standards,” Ms Macharia said.
Her tenure has had mixed reactions from stakeholders in the education sector, especially the Knut. It was during her time in office when she had sharp differences with the then Knut boss Wilson Sossion over the involvement of teachers in the rolling out of the competency-based curriculum (CBC).
They also differed on the implementation of the career progression guidelines (CPGs) for the promotion of teachers, with the Knut preferring the Teachers’ Code of Regulations and the Schemes of Service for the Teaching Service. The matter ended up in court which ruled in favour of Knut but the union later suffered for it. The CPGs have been blamed by the unions for the stagnation of teachers in the same job groups.
The commission stopped deducting and remitting members’ union dues. It only promoted teachers who were not Knut members and this weakened the operations of Knut and its branches across the country, as teachers also quit in droves.
At the end of the dispute, Mr Sossion was forced out of the union which was left greatly weakened. His successor Collins Oyuu has avoided confrontation with the TSC and even pulled out of a strike at the eleventh hour in August 2024.
Ms Macharia revealed that this year alone, TSC has had exclusive consultations with Knut more than 10 times.
“This excludes informal meetings that I have had with the SG and other leaders in the union. On this end, allow me to thank Knut for sponsoring some of the retreats we have had,” she said.
Away from the disputes with unions, she is credited with the signing of the first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between teachers and their employer. The TSC also introduced comprehensive health insurance cover for teachers, although it has had various challenges along the way.
“The commission has institutionalised collective bargaining in the teaching service which has led to the signing and implementation of two four-year cycle CBAs. The 2017 – 2021 CBA at a cost of Sh54 billion and the 2021-2025 CBA at a cost of Sh18 billion. The Commission is currently waiting for your [Knut] memorandum to commence the 2025-2029 CBA. The ball is in your court,” Ms Macharia said.
She is also credited with the introduction of performance management in the teaching service through the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) in schools. This was another change opposed by Mr Sossion but which is now entrenched in the service.
However, as Knut now enjoys cordial relations with the TSC, the same cannot be said of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), particularly after the national strike the union called in August. Like with Knut earlier, the commission refused to deduct union dues and Kuppet had to go to court.
Ms Macharia announced that the TSC is processing applications for 5,690 advertised posts for promotion and will soon advertise another 19,000 vacancies.
