Fresh TSC Transfers Reignite Bitter Delocalisation Battle.
Teachers have raised concerns over ongoing transfers by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), alleging that the commission has effectively revived the controversial delocalisation policy through its latest deployment exercise.
The concerns were raised during an annual meeting of primary and secondary school teachers held on Monday, June 29, where educators from Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos counties criticised the transfers, saying they were disrupting family stability, lowering job satisfaction and uprooting long-serving teachers from their home counties.
According to the teachers, appeals submitted to the Teachers Service Commission committee responsible for handling transfer cases have largely not been successful, with some educators reportedly being transferred to distant regions despite having served for decades in their current schools.
“We have seen the issue of teachers being transferred under the delocalisation policy, which has negatively affected the teachers. Teachers are going before the committee to appeal but we are not being listened to,” one teacher said during the meeting.
Teachers stated that the ongoing transfer exercise has heightened concerns over employee welfare, increased workload and prolonged separation from families.
The delocalisation policy requires teachers to be deployed outside their counties of origin as part of efforts to promote equitable staffing across the country and minimise potential conflicts of interest in school administration.
In April, the Teachers Service Commission commenced a nationwide mass transfer exercise ahead of the reopening of the second school term. The commission stated that the exercise was intended to address persistent staffing imbalances, where schools located in urban centres and easily accessible areas remain overstaffed while institutions in remote and hardship regions continue to experience acute teacher shortages that affect learning outcomes.
The transfer exercise has renewed debate over the implementation of the delocalisation policy, which had previously been discontinued following consultations between the government and teachers’ unions.
The government had earlier entered into a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with teachers’ unions, resulting in the abolition of the delocalisation policy after widespread complaints from affected teachers.
However, in 2025, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Nairobi Branch accused the Teachers Service Commission of reintroducing the policy through ongoing transfer decisions, describing the exercise as a return of delocalisation through alternative administrative measures.
While many teachers have opposed compulsory transfers, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) disclosed on June 17 that hundreds of teachers had applied for transfers from areas they considered unsafe following increased political violence ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Meanwhile, the Teachers Service Commission has maintained that teacher deployment and transfer decisions remain solely within its constitutional and statutory mandate.
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Speaking during the 2026 Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) Annual Conference, Acting Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei cautioned politicians, sponsoring institutions and other stakeholders against attempting to influence teacher deployment decisions through external requests.
“Stakeholders, we value you, but allow the commission to do its mandate. I have constantly received letters from sponsoring institutions telling us where to move teachers,” Mitei said.
She added, “What we are saying is that the mandate lies strictly with the commission. You can give us your proposals. We will consider them based on the criteria that we use as an employer but we don’t need any help from anybody to staff our schools.”
Fresh TSC Transfers Reignite Bitter Delocalisation Battle.
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