Impartiality, transparency and accountability should always be the driving principles in determining the filling of the competitive vacancies in the public sector. This, of course, applies to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and other key government agencies.
These are, indeed, the core constitutional requirements for the appointments, recruitment, and promotions to be carried out based on fair competition and merit and to enable the efficient use of public resources. This is why it makes sense for the TSC to ensure that the teacher interns, who have served for at least 12 months, and those who graduated many years ago are given priority during the interviews to fill 20,000 permanent and pensionable jobs. The agency has assured the public that they will score higher in the interviews.
The TSC has advertised the vacancies as part of a nationwide recruitment drive to strengthen staffing in the junior schools for the competency-based education (CBE) programme. The commission has also advertised 34,016 promotions for serving teachers. This brings the total of the advertised positions to 54,016.
The heavy weighting of the internship experience indicates that this will be one of the decisive factors in determining those who will be permanently employed. The TSC has, therefore, given an assurance of transparency and accountability, with the selection panels expected to verify the applicants’ academic, professional and other documents before making the decision.
At least five per cent of the advertised vacancies have been reserved for teachers with disabilities to enhance inclusivity. This presents an opportunity to address stakeholders’ frequent concerns about whether factors such as seniority, age, or internship advantages overshadow pure academic merit.
This is what often leads to continuous calls for open applicant lists and digital tracking to eliminate any perceived bias or possible external interference.
The guidelines should be strictly followed during the interviews to be fair to the long-serving interns and the teachers who qualified years ago and are still engaged on casual terms.
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