The Teachers Service Commission has insisted that it will only promote teachers after their first degree and not after any other subsequent degree. The teachers had earlier complained that the TSC promotion policy is not clearly defined and that teachers who advance their education do not get promoted. "The policy should be reviewed. The TSC should also create job group 'S' and 'T' to create room for upward mobility," Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Cleophas Tirop said earlier this week.

Yesterday, TSC director of human resource management and development Josephine Maundu said the commission recognises teachers, who advance their education beyond the first degree by awarding salary increment. Maundu, however, said although some teachers advance their education, the performance in schools has not improved. "As we recognise qualifications, let us also see improvement in performance," she said at the secondary school head teachers' conference yesterday.

She said there are certain parameters used in gauging teachers who deserve promotion. At the same time, Maundu said the commission will consider introducing a separate scheme of service for head teachers. TSC chief executive officer Gabriel Lengoiboni said the commission will deliberate on the issue under the new constitutional dispensation.

Education minister Mutula Kilonzo supported the move saying principals are first teachers and then managers and should be treated differently. He said he has defined principals differently in the Education Bill that has been finalised and is only waiting for debate in Parliament. "I notice in the two months I have been in office, that the TSC thinks that a principal is just a teacher," said Kilonzo.