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.