From Kenya Curriculum Support Officers
Tsc
Nairobi
KENYA
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Dear Sir/Madam
Re:THE PLIGHT OF CURRICULUM SUPPORT OFFICERS,KENYA.
The above named officers are deployed at the zones by the TSC as field officers.There are approximately 1200 regular CSOs including CSOs SNE
Before the new constitution,CSOs worked in the zones under the Ministry of Education as Tac-Tutors.Any hard working Tac-Tutor would then earn a promotion to the positions of a Zonal Inspector,APSI,AEO and even the DEO.
With the advent of the new constitution,the then Tac.Tutor was placed under the TSC and deployed at the zones as a Curriculum Support Officer!!
Most of the Curriculum Support Officers as were the Tac.Tutors were primary school heads whose performance at national exams were exemplary.Of late,TSC has started deploying secondary school teachers as Curriculum Support Officers through a competitive process.
This group of teachers,for they are not in the secretariat, are the most frustrated lot within the TSC.They were appointed through a competitive process at scale C5 where most still are after appointment and serving as CSOs for the last 10 years.
Unlike the teachers whose career growth and development are under the 2014 CPGs,CSOs just work under the mercy of the Lord.They(CSOs) don’t have any guidelines for their career growth and development.
A document dubbed CSOs Carear Progression Guidelines was developed in 2019 and immediately shelved before implementation in July,2019.That explains why for the last 5 years running,the commission did not advertie for promotion of CSOs to the next grades.The same omission is still noticeable in the 2022 Dec. TSC advertisement for other cadres.
The most senior Curriculum Support Officer is at D1,at the same level with Senior Head teachers.The rest are at C5 which is a junior grade to most Head teachers they are supposed to supervise.
The 2019 CSOs CPGs were to be the game changer but as I said,the document was shelved as it was prepared.The guidelines had established the position of a Chief Curriculum Support Officer who would be at per with the Chief Principal in a secondary school at D5 .
If we had any opportunity to go back to class,we would get back running.Our colleagues who didn’t apply for the position of CSOs are now principals at D3 and D4.If TSC doesn’t have any use of this cadre any more,we advice they dissolve the section
Our business involves supervision and monitoring of the curriculum.It also entails conducting lesson observations for teachers and head teachers and principals and some are more senior in grades than most of the CSOs.Our function also involves appraising the Heads of Institutions,and as I said,some are more senior than the CSOs.
The success of the new CBC system depends on the CSOs as the officers on the ground.
Our only request is that TSC implements the 2019 CSOs CPGs
CSOs KENYA