TSC & Ministry Of Education on The Spot Over Bribery On Delocalization
In the North Rift region, a group of government employees from the Ministry of Education are under investigation for preventing delocalized teachers from returning to their home counties.
Despite the Kenya kwanza Government having abandoned the delocalization scheme, the officials from Trans-Nzoia, Uasin gishu, and Bungoma Counties are allegedly demanding bribes from the affected teachers in order to be diverted back home.
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The deadline for TSC to reroute all teachers was January 31, 2023, although this has not yet happened in several areas.
For instance, several West Pokot County teachers who were transferred to neighbouring counties have expressed anxiety about not being allowed to return home.
As a result, West Pokot County is currently experiencing a severe teacher shortage.
Following the passage of a resolution by Lurambi MP Titus Khamala, the Teachers Service Commission’s delocalization strategy was repealed in November 2022.
The delocalization programme, which saw some tutors shifted away from their chosen institutions, had an impact on about 6,000 teachers across the nation.
Teachers who talked to our team on the condition of anonymity observed that they had not been sent home since the counties where they are working now seek bribes from the education officials.
“I have done everything in my power to return to West Pokot County, but I am being asked to pay Shs 100,000 to be released.” We are expected to be sent back in an unequivocal manner, according to a Trans-nzoia County instructor.
One female teacher reportedly said, “I have given up because someone somewhere wants to use me so that I can be sent back home.”
Officials from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) in West Pokot County have opposed the decision, claiming that the Teachers Service Commission [TSC] is preventing local teachers from going back to their homes.
According to Martin Sembelo, executive secretary of the West Pokot County Kenya National Union of Teachers [KNUT], the county is severely understaffed with 2500 teachers.
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“Why do we need more teachers? In the counties of Trans-Nzoia and Uasin gishu, we have our delocalized instructors. We want transfers from TSC so they can return home. Allow their release so they can return to their homes. Many have sobbed because they weren’t given the chance to return home. Even if those outsiders are still there, they can cooperate to make up for the understaffed positions, he said.
Without enough teachers, he claimed, the Teachers’ Salary Subsidy [TSS] could not be effectively implemented.
We don’t want to argue with TSC, but we do need special consideration for this marginalised county, even if we are aware that the budgetary allocation to TSC might not be permitted. Let them visit and help out with our kids’ needs. All MPs agreed and it was unanimously approved for passage in parliament. As a union, we are alarmed and appalled,” said Sembelo.
He claimed that TSC headquarters has a premeditated plan to send non-locals back to West Pokot County, preventing locals from reuniting with their families and causing family dissolution.
According to him, “We want TSC to move with the least amount of delay and reroute local teachers back to West Pokot.”
He mentioned that because of the hardship allowances, the non-local teachers choose to remain in West Pokot County.
“Teacher morale is at an all-time low. We don’t want many criteria today because there was no communication throughout delocalization. The regional director of education needs to assume accountability,” he stated.
The representative requested action from local authorities.
“We want our native teachers to return to West Pokot, and we are not pursuing outsiders. Delocalization was essential, and they had to be diverted as well, he argued.
West Pokot County, according to Sembelo, was understaffed, thus the arrival of local instructors would be beneficial.
“We ask the President to step in and direct TSC to take the appropriate action. There are numerous examples where families have been split apart, according to Sembelo.
Sembelo pointed out that the delocalization of teachers is at odds with the teacher deployment strategy used by UNESCO, which views education as a cultural process carried out locally within a people’s cultural environment.
With the regulations and guidelines on teacher management and deployment established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNESCO, he added.
Sembelo said that local teachers will play a crucial role in imparting knowledge of indigenous languages.
Primary teachers sign chatter with UNESCO, and the initial language of instruction is the language of the catchment area. TSS will be OK when teachers return to their individual Home Counties, according to Sembelo.
Joel Patrich, the chairman of Knut West Pokot, said that delocalized teachers must go back to their homes to help their families if the indigenous language topic in the Competency-based Curriculum [CBC] is to succeed.
“It should be carried out right away. One woman claimed that because she lived far away, no one trusted me at home. That is grave. Two months later, they return home. You may still have doubts about her, even if it was your wife, Patrich added.
Samuel Moroto, a Kapenguria MP, claimed that the region was underserved and urged TSC officials to visit West Pokot and evaluate the situation before often sending teachers to hardscrabble areas.
Teachers who are accustomed to the climate and geography of West Pokot County should be allowed to continue teaching there because they are familiar with the difficulties they would face.
Bernard Kimachasi, the director of the West Pokot County Teachers Service Commission, stated that the county had a deficit of 2000 in basic schools and 800 in high schools.
We need more teachers since there is a general shortfall across the board, he declared.
TSC & Ministry Of Education on The Spot Over Bribery On Delocalization
