Members of Parliament now want the teacher redeployment policy scrapped, saying it has caused massive imbalances in the employment and deployment of teachers in schools across the country.
The Constitutional Implementation and Oversight Committee (CIOC) of the National Assembly says the policy, which has been used by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) since 2018, is lopsided and has caused imbalances in the employment of teachers from different regions of the country.
The delocalisation policy required the TSC to transfer teachers to teach in areas outside their place of origin in order to prevent conflicts of interest in the management of public schools.
But the committee, chaired by Runyenjes MP Erick Muchangi, pointed out during a meeting with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) that the policy was not enshrined in law.
Mr Muchangi said a resolution has no force of law and cannot be used by the TSC as a basis for recruiting teachers.
“This is the constitutional oversight committee of parliament. Which law are you using for this policy?” Mr Muchangi asked TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia.
"We need to find a place in the law and the motion passed as a resolution of the house," Mr Muchangi added.
Ms Macharia, however, defended the commission, saying it had received letters from Parliament over a resolution passed on the relocation policy.
“The resolution was passed by this House and you are the parliamentarians who make laws. If you want to change it, then we stand guided and we will implement what you say,” Ms Macharia said.
She pointed out that for now, the Commission was bound by the resolution of the House, informing lawmakers that it had appeared several times before both the Education and Implementation Committees, which were keen to review the status of implementation of the policy.
“The implementation committee has been following up on the status of implementation of the policy. Remember, I was almost impeached because of this policy. So what should I do? She posed.
Mr Muchangi, however, said a resolution of the House passed in the form of a motion had no legal force, hence, TSC could not rely on it to implement such an important decision.
“When you say you received a letter from parliament, can you tell us who in particular? Is it from the clerk? Speaker or majority leader? We would like you to furnish this committee with that letter,” Mr Muchangi said.
Tongaren MP John Chikati said the TSC was using the policy to discriminate in the recruitment of teachers, with some regions being disenfranchised.
“Our people are not being employed because TSC is relying on this policy. We have many graduates. We have teachers who got a TSC number in 2009 but have not been employed but another who got a TSC no. in 2022 is already employed. Why can’t we have a system where all those who graduated earlier are employed first? Asked Mr Chikati.
The National Assembly during a sitting.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) came up with the teacher redeployment policy in 2017 and rolled it out in January 2018, where principals and head teachers were posted outside their home districts.
The programme was to cascade down to deputy headteachers, assistant headteachers, senior teachers and classroom teachers. The policy was ostensibly developed to address cases of conflict of interest that may arise as a result of long service in a particular station (school), to promote cohesion among Kenyan tribes and to enhance national unity and integration.
Delocalisation as a regulatory function of the Teachers Service Commission should be aimed at ensuring cohesion, national integration and harmony in the teaching service and should be carried out in a manner that does not demean teachers.
The Constitution, under Article 237, gives the TSC the mandate to recruit and employ registered teachers and assign them to provide services in any school or institution. This means that the TSC can deploy any teacher to teach in any part of the country.
In the implementation of the redeployment policy, teachers aged 56 and above, those with medical conditions, teachers caring for their spouse, child or dependent with an exceptional disability or medical condition, and those with different abilities are exempted from redeployment.
In December 2018, the commission transferred 3,094 teachers, but only 360 appealed against the transfers.
