The Teachers Service Commission has clarified on the criterion used in promoting some secondary school principals to the coveted posts of Chief and Senior Principals following a lot of discontent from those not selected.
TSC promoted 36,504 teachers up the rank to Chief and Senior Principals in March 2024. In the 47th KESSHA Conference held at Travellers Beach Hotel in Mombasa on June 27, 2024, TSC acting Director of Staff Antonina Lentoijoni elaborated to the school heads on the promotion process.
According to Lentoijoni, 3,920 Principals expressed interest through applications for promotion to fill the 142 advertised positions of Chief and Senior Principals. 422 Principals, in detail, applied for the 34 positions of Chief Principal at Grade D5, while 3,498 applied for the 108 positions of Senior Principal at Grade D4.
Lentoijoni outlined that the selection process was based on a rigorous score guide bordering on a number of factors, key among them being affirmative action, gender, and regional balance. The criteria took into consideration acting status and stagnation period where principals who were acting in Grades D2 and D3 were considered. A stagnation period refers to how long one had stayed in their current grade.
- Acting Status: Principals who were already acting in Grades D2 and D3 were given consideration.
- Stagnation Period: The duration a Principal had remained in their current grade, with longer periods resulting in higher scores.
- KCSE Results:The School’s mean score and the Principal’s subject mean score were the first to be considered. If these did not favour the Principal then the improvement index in the last three years was considered.
- Co-Curricular Performance: Participation and performance in co-curricular activities.
- Age: Principals who were nearing retirement had a slight advantage.
Lentoijoni said that since the criteria set were very tough only few positions were available, and thus nearly 98 percent of applicants were never chosen. For the few available Chief Principal, slots TSC ensured its distribution to counties with special prominence to those counties that had never benefited from a chief principal position. The commission also considered gender and affirmative action.
At the Senior Principal level, all counties were factored in and each assigned 2-3 posts depending on the number of applicants, among other factors.
The detailed breakdown given is meant to explain the process of promotion in a language so convincing that the officers who were not promoted clearly understand what took place at TSC and remain happy that it did put in a reasonable attempt to ensure fairness and transparency.