Kenya National Union of Teachers Raises Concerns Over Transparency of TSC Promotion Interviews

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has raised concerns regarding the transparency of teacher promotion interviews conducted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in December 2023 and January 2024. Initially, confusion arose when the list of successful candidates was released through advertisement No. 31/2023 – 40/2023, which was later criticized as fraudulent. Despite this, the TSC numbers in the false advertisement were found to match those in legitimate adverts (46/2023 – 61/2023). Knut has requested that the TSC make public the rules governing these interviews and provide clear communication on the correct results.

The union is particularly concerned about the TSC’s refusal to release the names of successful candidates alongside their TSC numbers, which they argue is necessary for audit purposes to prevent potential irregularities such as deceased instructors being listed as successful candidates. Knut also emphasizes the importance of transparency in the promotion process, including the publicizing of lists of successful candidates and promotion grades. They call for a forensic audit of the entire process to ensure fairness and transparency. Additionally, Knut questions the criteria used by the TSC during the interviews, which included factors such as acting capacity, length of stay in the current grade, TPAD ratings, age, co-curricular engagement, and academic qualifications of the teachers. Overall, Knut advocates for transparency, fairness, and accountability in the TSC’s promotion process to maintain confidence among teachers.