Special needs teacher from Elgeyo Marakwet County want the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to promote them arguing that they had stagnated in the same job group for too long.
Jane Kiplagat, who has dedicated 31 years of her career to teaching children with disabilities in Elgeyo Marakwet County, expressed concern that special education teachers have been completely forgotten in teacher promotions.
She urged the TSC to promote long-serving special needs educators by at least one grade to compensate for the decades they have remained trapped in the same job group lamenting that regular teachers continue to disproportionately secure the lion’s share of promotional opportunities, leaving out the special educators.
According to Kiplagat, the current TSC promotion framework is structurally flawed saying it forces specialized teachers out of their typical working environments and where they are needed most.
She noted that when special needs educators are finally considered for promotions, they are systematically transferred to regular schools rather than being retained in specialized institutions.
“We want to remain with the special children, moving us to regular schools completely drains specialized institutions of the expertise required to handle the vulnerable learners,” said Mrs. Kiplagat.
Moving these teachers to regular schools, she argues, effectively drains special institutions of their most experienced staff, who have spent a lifetime developing the unique skills, bonds and technical expertise required in special education.
She revealed that a job assessment previously conducted by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) had recommended that special needs teachers be moved up by two grades but despite this directive, she contends that they remain wrongly graded.
The veteran teacher called for the immediate fulfillment of the 2023 petition on teacher grading and welfare saying although the report was successfully adopted by Parliament, it has never been acted upon by the TSC.
The teachers are demanding that the implementation of this report be backdated to 2017 to cover years of lost earnings.
“Parliament adopted our 2023 petition, yet we remain wrongly graded. We want full implementation of our rightful grades, and it must be backdated to 2017,” she said.
While a union exists that purports to champion the rights of special needs teachers, Kiplagat noted that they were not involved in the election of their representatives and, therefore, have no one to genuinely present their issues.
“We have a union purporting to represent us, but we were not involved in the elections. Without true leadership, the issues of special needs teachers are being completely left out at the negotiating table,” she said
Special needs educators are now calling on the government and the TSC to urgently intervene, correct the grading anomalies, and protect the educational welfare of Kenya’s most vulnerable children by fairly rewarding the teachers who care for them.
by Alice Wanjiru
