Head teachers across the country will have to wait longer before they are transferred back to their home counties even after the government ended the delocalisation policy.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) urged the more than 10,000 head teachers to be patient as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) arranges for their transfers.
“In our collective bargaining agreement, we told TSC to repeal the delocalisation policy, and the working environment of the teacher should be one that the professional feels comfortable in to maximise productivity. Families must be brought as close as possible,” said Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu.
Speaking during the ongoing Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association (Kepsha) conference at Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Primary School in Mombasa, Mr Oyuu said that although the policy has been scrapped, challenges remain.
“If there is no vacancy where you came from, it will be difficult for TSC to take you back,” said Mr Oyuu. “We are moving very fast to have our heads who were delocalised accommodated back in their former sub-counties or counties.”
He said more than 1,000 head teachers were transferred under the policy. “It was a silent death for our teachers.”
The head teachers, led by Kepsha National Chairman Johnson Nzioka, said the abolishment of delocalisation was the best decision.
National Assembly Committee on Education chairman Julius Melly said: “Delocalisation is a policy that we discarded as a Kenya Kwanza government, it is not debatable and we will not reverse it. I thank TSC because they have started to reverse it. Teachers can now be reunited with their families.”
Mr Melly said that while the Teachers Service Code states that teachers can work anywhere in the country, they should not be forced to go against their will.
In hardship areas, especially the North Eastern region, the MP, who is a former teacher, urged county governments to provide teachers a conducive environment to work.
“In hardship areas, we talked about affirmative action. In the last Parliament we talked to TSC to promote even diploma teachers in leadership positions so that we retain them there,” he said.
AIC Tinderet Primary School head teacher Nicholas Mutai said his family was affected by the policy when his wife was transferred from their home county.
“My wife was transferred from Nandi to Kericho,” he said.
Mr Mutai cannot wait to be reunited with his wife in January as she is currently seeking a transfer.
