As TSC reels from protests stakeholders call for an audit

Having employed over 400,000 teachers, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) remains one of the biggest institutions in Kenya. Yet the institution entrusted with managing Kenya’s teaching workforce has become a source of deep frustration for many educators due to persistent corruption and inefficiency, according to a recent survey report now being authenticated by multiple sources, among them stakeholders within the education sector, The Standard can reveal.

According to the reports, the Commission has been mired in scandals that have left thousands of teachers feeling neglected and unfairly treated.

The 2023 National Ethics and Corruption Survey by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) delivered a harsh verdict on the Commission. It ranked TSC among the most corrupt institutions in Kenya, with an alarming graft prevalence level of 100 per cent. This level of corruption places TSC alongside other challenged institutions such as the Ministry of Defence and the National Transport and Safety Authority.

According to the report, teachers regularly face demands for bribes to secure employment, promotions, and transfers, turning career progression into a costly affair. The EACC report reveals how TSC services like teacher promotions and transfers are contingent on hefty bribery before being effected. Other services like teacher recruitment and even collecting employment letters from TSC warrant an exchange of money between hapless teachers and TSC officials.

Such systemic and embedded corruption raises questions about the criteria used to appoint school heads since the only merit needed is the exchange of money.

Efforts to get a comment from TSC were futile. Neither the CEO nor the legal or communications officers responded to our questions.

The EACC corruption report on TSC noted that corruption directly affects disciplinary actions, creating a biased system where accountability is compromised. These bribes, as revealed to The Standard by long-suffering teachers, reportedly range from Sh50,000 to as high as Sh500,000 depending on the position one is seeking, thus painting a bleak picture of how money and influence have compromised meritocracy within the education sector.

One teacher, Triza, venting on social media, reacted to the exclusive The Standard story yesterday, saying, “Thank you for speaking on behalf of many teachers who are suffering in silence.”

The recent mass recruitment exercise intended to fill over 50,000 teaching positions exposed further cracks in the system. In April, employment letters were allegedly handed out at political rallies linked to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), deepening fears that the teaching profession is now a political prize rather than a noble calling based on competence.

Murang’a Woman Representative revealed recently that TSC letters were handed over to politicians who visited State House, with each politician getting 20 employment letters. “Sisi juzi tuliitwa pale State House, na tukapewa barua za waalimu. Zile constituencies wabunge wao hawakuja, watoto wa hizo constituencies hawakupata nafasi za kuajiriwa,” the legislator was quoted as saying.

Under CEO Evaleen Mitei, the Commission has been battling poor service delivery. A glaring instance was the collapse of the online recruitment portal in October, which shut out more than 46,000 qualified applicants desperate for teaching jobs. Thousands of trained teachers across the country faced frustration and disappointment as they struggled to apply for the teaching positions advertised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

With the application portal riddled with technical failures, the one-week deadline left many teachers locked out of an opportunity they had long awaited. The Commission’s explanation that “technical challenges” caused the failure was met with disbelief and anger from affected teachers.

The inefficiencies don’t stop there. Delays in promotions and a lack of structured in-service training programmes have left many teachers trapped in stagnant positions despite eligibility for advancement. “Teachers have stagnated in the same job groups for far too long, and that frustration is affecting morale and performance,” says Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) National Chairman and Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba. Vivian Atieno, a teacher, says, “A teacher stagnates in a job group for 14 years while another one is promoted in a span of eight months.”

Concerns about ethnic favouritism and regional bias have also stirred public outrage. In one of the recent promotion rounds where over 25,000 teachers were elevated, disparities in the distribution of promotions suggested clear bias favouring certain ethnic groups. In August, Julius Melly, Member of Parliament for Tinderet and Chair of the Parliamentary Education Committee, voiced his disappointment: “We fight so hard to secure funding for promotions, but it is disheartening when fairness is overlooked. The Commission must address these allegations once and for all.”

Voices from within the education sector have been candid in their criticism. A teacher, Rehema, says: “Corruption and tribalism at TSC have destroyed trust. Teachers are victims of a broken system that only rewards those with the right connections.”

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Collins Oyuu regretted that strained relations between the union and TSC had in the past been detrimental to teachers. “The issue of CBA to be reduced to two years from four years, the issues of promotions and employment, those are the key areas that affect our teachers across the country,” said Oyuu.

Knut also expressed concern over the continued implementation of transfers that force educators to work far from their home areas, despite the National Assembly abolishing the system. “It is regrettable that delocalisation is still being implemented against Parliament’s revision,” he said. Delocalisation is the controversial and now-abandoned policy by Kenya’s Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to transfer teachers and school principals to schools outside their home counties. Delocalisation was banned on November 3, 2022, through a motion passed in the National Assembly.

The motion, brought by Lurambi MP Titus Khamala, argued that the policy disrupted teachers’ lives and lacked a clear framework. It followed an outcry from teachers and unions who said delocalisation was negatively affecting families.

Oyuu accused some officials of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of frustrating teachers by transferring them to regions they did not select, urging the Commission to respect Parliament’s directive and prioritise teachers’ welfare.

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) National Chairman and Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba said many schools are reeling in crisis, leaving teachers demoralised. He called for a parliamentary inquiry into how the TSC treats teachers. He also raised concerns over the teachers’ internship programme, which he described as unconstitutional and exploitative. According to Milemba, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) lacks legal authority to employ teachers on temporary terms.

“The TSC in law does not have the authority to employ teachers as interns. We made the law in Naivasha that all teachers must be employed on permanent and pensionable terms. The 20,000 interns whose contracts expire this November must be absorbed immediately,” he said.

On teacher promotions, the Kuppet chair lauded ongoing efforts but said the pace remains too slow. He noted that although TSC recently promoted 52,000 teachers, the annual budget only supports 25,000 promotions per year, far below what is needed to address career stagnation.

“We want to see that number rise to 50,000 promotions a year. We need an education system that inspires trust. When policies keep changing without consultation, teachers lose faith. Education reforms must be guided by professionalism, not politics,” he said.

“Teachers deserve dignity in pay, promotions, and working conditions. We will hold the government to its word,” he said.

He called for a national audit of education funds and accountability for every shilling allocated to the sector, saying education is “too important to be left in the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats.”

“Education drives our nation’s future. When money meant for learners is delayed or misused, it destroys that future. We cannot reform education without first reforming how it is managed,” Milemba said.