Inside the BBI Report; TSC to Delocalise Teachers in Recruitment and Staffing

The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report, which was presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, October 21, proposed that  the ministry of education should  discourage local Recruitment and staffing of teachers depending on the circumstances.

“On teacher recruitment, the Ministry (of Education) should adopt policy guidelines that discourage local recruitment and staffing of teachers, depending on the circumstances,” added the report.

The report further cautioned that teachers should be vetted on a case by case basis before being transferred to different counties.

Stakeholders further said that “programmes should be put in place for cultural exchange and integration between different schools so that learners can grow to appreciate the different cultures and dynamics in Kenya,” read the report in part.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had previously differed over the delocalisation policy.

KNUT had lamented that TSC carried out the delocalisation process illegally with the aim of punishing teachers.

The union further noted that teachers had been transferred to far off counties yet some were old and sickly affecting the quality of Education.

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia had, however, argued that delocalisation was aimed at promoting national cohesion.

“Delocalisation is simply a transfer; we want to ensure that teachers do not teach in their locality for the entire career,” she stated.

The BBI report also proposed that students admitted in boarding schools should be split halfway with one block coming from the same county while the other originating from other counties.

This, the document noted, was to address ethnic antagonism and competition issues.

“Ensure that secondary boarding schools that are publicly funded have representation from different counties amounting to at least 50 per cent of the student body.

“The Ministry of Education should develop a policy to guide this requirement,” noted the report.

Currently, student admissions depend on merit, equity and choice of schools by the candidates based on the available places.