2.3 Recruitment

In this section: - Recruitment rules and processes

• Rules: Recruitment
• Process: How to become a School Leader
• Process: Teacher Recruitment
• Best Practice: How to use the Recruitment SCORE CHART
• Best Practice: How to conduct a successful job (or promotion) interview
• Further Reading: About Recruitment
• Further Reading: Who is responsible for recruitment

Rules: Recruitment

Includes: General rules; Recruitment and Selection; Employment; Special Rules for contract employment; Re-employment; Replacement; and, Qualifications required to become a teacher

 

General Recruitment Rules

Recruitment to the teaching service must be:

• Objective, fair and unbiased
• Based on merit and professional competencies
• Fully transparent at all stages of the process
• In accordance with international best practice
• Based on criteria matching the job requirements and the professional standards for teachers.

Recruitment and selection

• Recruitment is to a vacant position in an approved government or government assisted school.
• Selection must be based on criteria which ensures fairness, objectivity and merit-based recruitment.
• Candidates who are not selected and are dissatisfied with their interview and its results may complain in writing to the TSC-DO, copying TSC-HQ, within seven (7) days of interview.
• A teacher recruited by the TSC shall be appointed to a position, grade and pay-scale consistent with their qualifications and relevant work experience.
• An applicant to a position in the teaching service must have no criminal record.

Employment

• The TSC shall employ a successful applicant either on a permanent or contract basis.
• The TSC may employ a teacher on permanent terms if the teacher is: qualified (compulsory for all from 2023), a Sierra Leonean citizen and below the age of 55.
• The appointment is effective from the date the teacher reports for duty, in accordance with the Appointment Letter and confirmed by the ENTRY FORM issued by the school leader.
• An offer of employment shall terminate if not taken up within thirty (30) days of the date specified in the Appointment Letter. If the offer expires, the candidate can apply to TSC-HQ for the letter to be re-issued once. Otherwise the candidate shall have to re-apply for a new position as teacher when another position becomes vacant.

Special rules for employment on contract terms

• The TSC may employ a teacher on contract terms for a specified period if the teacher is: a) a retired teacher eligible for re-employment, or b) a person with the required teacher qualifications and deemed eligible for appointment by the TSC.
• The TSC may, on application by a teacher employed on contract terms, extend or renew the CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT. A contract does not give automatic right of renewal.
• Employment on contract terms does not automatically confer the right to be considered for, or to be offered, permanent employment as a teacher.

Re-employment of a teacher

• A teacher who exited the service through resignation, retirement, redundancy, transfer, ill-health or for other appropriate reasons may be re-employed on permanent or fixed contract terms by the TSC subject to a) the current terms and conditions of service, b) recruitment rules and procedures, and c) approval by the TSC.
• The contract of a re-employed teacher adheres to the rules for contract employment of teachers and is of a maximum duration of one year, but can be renewed subject to the same rules.
• A teacher who previously exited the service through ill health must provide ample medical evidence that he or she has recovered, in good health and is fit to perform the duties of a teacher.
• A teacher will normally be re-employed to his or her former position, level and grade.

Replacement

If a teacher leaves his or her post and is taken off the payroll, the position left vacant is eligible for replacement.

• The TSC asks the school to recommend a replacement, which could be a teacher who is qualified for the subject and requirements of the position, but not yet approved and on the payroll.
• Replacement teachers must meet the criteria specified for the vacant position. For example, a history teacher cannot be recommended for a position that requires a chemistry teacher.

Qualifications required to become a teacher

To qualify to become a teacher, an applicant must successfully have completed any of the following certificate and/or degree courses at a recognised educational institution in Sierra Leone:

Primary school:

• Teacher Certificate (TC)
• Higher Teacher Certificate (HTC)

Secondary school:

• Higher Teacher Certificate (HTC)-Secondary
• Degree in Education (qualifies for teaching at all levels)
• Any university degree plus a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education qualifies for teaching at all levels.

Applicants with qualifications obtained from foreign educational institutions are subject to evaluation by the TSC.

Process: How to become a School Leader

Deputy Head or Head Teacher

In primary schools, Deputy Head Teachers and Head Teachers are promoted from among senior teachers in the school. The SMC selects candidates for promotion based on their Performance Appraisal results and accumulated merits recorded in their Teacher Portfolio. The candidate must have demonstrated the skills necessary to be a school leader. Promotions to school leader positions are approved by TSC which signs the PROMOTION FORM as the employer of school leaders.

Vice-Principal or Principal

Vice-Principals and Principals of secondary schools are recruited through open advertising by the School Board of Governors, which includes a representative of the Chief Education Officer. Final appointment is approved by the MBSSE.

Process of Vice Principal or Principal recruitment:

• BoG advertises the position
• Applicant submits completed application to the BoG
• BoG receives applications and shortlists eligible candidates
• BoG invites shortlisted candidates for interview
• Shortlisted candidates attend interview conducted by the BoG
• BoG recommends the selected candidate to the Chief Education Officer (CEO) of the MBSSE
• CEO writes an appointment letter (MBBSE) to the successful candidate with a copy to the BoG
• Successful candidate accepts the offer in writing.

For the qualifications required to become a school leader see Promotion.

 

Process: Teacher Recruitment

See figure below for the teacher recruitment process.

 

 

Best Practice: How to use the Recruitment SCORE CHART

The Recruitment Score Chart is a tool used to shortlist, interview and select new teachers. Some of the required competencies for the job will be demonstrated in the application and documentation provided by the candidate before the interview. During the interview the panel may wish to focus on a maximum of 10 criteria to keep within the allocated time limits.

Download Recruitment Score Chart. 

RECRUITMENT SCORE CHART
	Essential Competencies	5	4	3	2	1	Comments
1	Relevant Subject knowledge, incl. current curriculum
2	Knowledge of didactics, pedagogic theory & practice
3	Teaching skills including learner orientation and participatory teaching methods.
4	Ability to manage the classroom and composite classes
5	Oral and writing skills
6	Team and social skills
7	Understanding of needs of disabled learners
8	Aptitude for engaging in extra-curricular activities, such as sports, excursions, camps, etc.
9	Being punctual, orderly and well-organised
10	Motivated, interested and a good learner
11	Integrity, conduct and ethics Must be scored 4 or 5 to be recruited
12	Evidence of communication skills and ability to engage with the community
13	IT and internet skills
14	Leadership skills, incl. planning and time management, supervising teachers, interacting professionally, etc.
	Other
	Other
	Qualifications	Minimum qualifications are compulsory
	Teaching experience
	Professional development
	Other relevant experience
Candidates ability to meet the criteria must be evidence based and documented, either through the interview or through documentation supplied by the candidate.

Rating scale:
5 Excellent
4 Good
3 Fair
2 Limited
1 None

                                                                                                                                                Adapted from Armstrong, 2005, p. 501

See section on Promotion for competencies required to become a school leader.

Best Practice: How to conduct a successful job (or promotion) interview

For a job interview to be effective, fair, and provide reliable and comparable information on the candidates, it is important to conduct it professionally according to clear guidelines, such as:  

Preparation:

• Ensure interviewees are invited two weeks in advance of the interview.
• Select an interview location where you receive minimal interruptions.
• Provide interviewees with the right information before the interview.
• Ensure Interview Panel members are available to conduct the interview and inform them of the date, time and location well in advance.
• All interview panel members should prepare by reviewing the Job Description, details of the school, each candidate’s documentation and application, and the Interview Score Chart.
• They should also check their knowledge on the relevant subjects, be well informed and develop their listening skills.
• Prepare a checklist of questions and focus areas based on the Recruitment Score Chart. The questions must be suitable for the interview situation and be easy to manage and record. Use the same scores as in the score card.
• Select one panel member to lead the interview.
• Distribute questions between the members of the interviewing panel.
• Plan the structure of the interview to ensure you have sufficient time to cover all the points.

During the interview:

• All candidates should be asked the same questions and go through the same procedure.
• Adopt a relaxed, professional and interested attitude.
• Be focussed and avoid distractions during the interview, both external and within the panel, the members of which should all follow these or equivalent guidelines.
• Start by reminding the interviewee the purpose of the meeting and how you will approach it.
• Make the interviewee feel relaxed and comfortable .
• Ask open questions – what?, how?, why? – to encourage the interviewee to give more than one-word answers.
• To elicit brief factual information ask closed questions – when?, where?, who?, have you?
• Probe fully to elicit full responses – what else?, tell me more about…?, what then?, what do you put that down to?
• AVOID leading questions – so you like teaching children?, you always apply learner-orientated teaching methods?
• Summarise regularly to ensure you fully understand, capture all points and give the interviewee an opportunity to correct and deepen their response.
• Do not patronise or speak down to the interviewee.
• Make sure you take accurate notes throughout and complete the score chart correctly.
• Manage time during the interview and make sure the panel does not take up too much time on any one point.
• At the end of the interview, thank the interviewee for his or her time.
• Allow time between interviews to review and organise notes and plan the next interview.

Adapted from Penny Hackett, Training Practice, CIPD London 2003/2008, pp. 41-42

Further Reading: About Recruitment

Recruitment takes place when an organisation needs to employ a qualified person on a permanent or a contract basis to fill a vacant position and carry out a specific job. The job, along with all jobs an organisation, is necessary to fulfil the mission, goals, targets and functions of the organisation and the department or unit where the job is placed.

Vacancies usually occur when the previous jobholder leaves, is transferred or promoted, or if the organisation expands. Changing strategies, new technologies or reorganisation may also create vacancies and the need for recruitment.  

This section is about the recruitment of teachers and school leaders to the teaching service for deployment to specific pre-primary, primary, junior secondary or secondary schools across Sierra Leone’s districts. Recruitment to the teaching service applies to all approved government and government-assisted schools.

Recruitment involves obligations on the part of both employer and employee. The teacher (employee) must carry out his or her job competently, adhere to the code of conduct and contribute positively to the work climate of the school. The teaching service (employer) and the school must ensure the employee is paid adequately and timely for his or her work, has optimal working conditions, is treated respectfully, fairly and without bias, and receives the required guidance and support.

Further Reading: Who is responsible for recruitment

The recruitment of teachers in the teaching service involves several actors with different roles, including:

TSC-HQ

• Has overall responsibility for the recruitment of teachers.
• Manages the recruitment process and subsequent deployment to schools.
• Adds teachers to the payroll system

TSC-DOs

• Provides the link between district and HQ.
• Receives and processes applications, ED forms, etc.

MBSSE

• Has overall responsibility for the recruitment of Principals and the appointment of Head Teachers.
• Signs ED Forms.

District Council-Education Committee

• Approves and signs ED forms.

School Management Committee

• Recommends recruitment.
• Conducts interviews of shortlisted candidates.

Board of Governors

• Recommends recruitment.
• Conducts interviews of shortlisted candidates.

Accountant General’s Office/ Ministry of Finance

• Verifies the accuracy of the information provided by successful candidates.

 National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT)

• Generates NASSIT account numbers for the attention of Accountant General’s Office.
• Adds new teachers into the government pension and insurance schemes.