TSC Announces Major Policy Shift To End Transfer Of Promoted Teachers

The Teachers Service Commission has unveiled a transformative policy that will bring relief to thousands of educators across the country by ending the controversial practice of transferring teachers immediately after promotion.

TSC chairman Jamleck Muturi confirmed on Thursday that the commission will no longer automatically transfer newly promoted teachers to distant stations, a practice that has long been a source of anguish for educators and their families.

The new policy prioritizes stability and continuity in schools, marking a significant departure from the longstanding practice that has seen teachers promoted and then transferred to far-flung workstations, often hundreds of kilometers from their families.

“We will now be considering the teachers’ welfare, health and other aspects to ensure that you are comfortable. Is that okay? That is what we are doing,” Muturi explained during an engagement with education stakeholders.

The chairman said the policy shift was developed through consultations with TSC commissioners and acting Chief Executive Officer Eveleen Mitei. Future promotions will be guided by a matrix that considers teacher welfare, comfort and health conditions.

Teachers in the past have faced difficult choices when promotions came attached to transfers that would separate them from their families.

Some educators were forced to turn down career advancement opportunities rather than uproot their lives or leave behind sick spouses and young children.

One senior teacher from Mombasa, who spoke to Nation, recounted being promoted from senior teacher to deputy head teacher only to be transferred to Kwale County. “I had to turn down the offer because I could not leave my young family. This is a good policy, we congratulate TSC, this is very good,” the teacher said.

The new approach is expected to particularly benefit educators in rural and marginalized regions, as well as teachers with health conditions who require consistent medical care in their current locations.

However, Muturi clarified that not all transfers can be eliminated. The TSC chairman explained that some transfers remain unavoidable due to constitutional mandates and operational necessities.

“When teachers are promoted, they are taken to institutions where vacancies are available. If you have been promoted to be a head of an institution and the school you are in already has a head, we cannot transfer the head who is there so that you are retained there. We take you to where there is work,” he explained.

The policy change comes after years of controversy surrounding the delocalisation policy, which was officially halted in 2022 following outcry from teachers and their unions.

The policy had required TSC to transfer teachers to areas outside their places of origin, leading to family separations and hardship for many educators.

In September this year, more than 150 Nairobi-based teachers who had been promoted were transferred to Kitui County, sparking protests.

Many were elderly teachers nearing retirement, some with health complications, who said the transfers were disrupting their lives at a critical career stage. The TSC later revoked those transfer letters after appeals from the affected teachers.

Muturi also highlighted the government’s substantial investment in teacher career advancement under the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Since President William Ruto took office in 2022, the TSC has promoted 151,000 teachers through competitive and common cadre promotions.

The commission expects to finalize the promotion of another 21,313 teachers who recently completed interviews by the end of January, bringing total promotions under the current administration to over 171,000.

The TSC chairman urged the National Assembly Education Committee to push for an additional one billion shillings promised by the president to promote more teachers.

Teachers who spoke to Kenya Insights welcomed the policy shift, saying it would help keep families together and allow those with medical conditions to continue treatment without interruption.

The new policy represents a significant victory for teacher unions, which have long campaigned against mandatory transfers tied to promotions, arguing that the practice was destroying families and negatively impacting teacher welfare.