The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) in Narok wants the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to exempt school heads holding positions in the Heads Association in the recently-mooted delocalization program.
Narok County KUPPET Secretary, Charles Ng’eno said the move to transfer principals who are holding various posts in the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) was hurting the associations.
“It is sad that the election of new officials has to be done every year because of transfers. TSC should relook into this issue because it threatens the existence of the associations which are crucial in the education sector,” Ngeno said.
The union official however said that while they are not opposed to the transfer of the school heads, those holding the post in the union should be transferred to schools within the county to enable them perform their roles.
Ng’eno said among the 37 heads transferred in Narok, a third of them are association officials, hence crippling the association.
The teachers are among the 3,094 head teachers transferred countrywide by their employer in the latest move to delocalize management of public schools across the country.
The KUPPET official termed the transfer of teachers’ representatives in the unions and associations as a deliberate attack on the trade union rights and leadership of teachers’ association.
The Unionist cited a case of Narok North Sub-county where Olpusimoru high School Principal Mr. Andrew Aluu was transferred to Bomet County yet he is the Narok South KESSHA Sub-county chairman and County vice chair.
“Mr Aluu was elected last year after another vice chairman, Mr Isaac Seret who was also transferred to a school in Bomet County,” he said.
The unionist termed the lack of consideration of the association officials in the transfer as a ploy by the employer-TSC to destabilize the associations. He said the move is disruptive to the teachers associations in the counties and asked the TSC to reverse transfers of the association officials.
By Ann Salaton
