Kenyans To Spend Ksh4.5 Billion To Retrain 750000 Teachers
A squabble has broken out over who will pay the bill for retraining 750,000 teachers as part of the newly launched Teacher Professional Development program.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announced the program, which is expected to cost the taxpayer Ksh4.5 billion. With this approach, all tutors will be required to renew their certificates every five years.
During the program’s initial rollout, the Commission stated that teachers would be responsible for obtaining their own certifications.
This sparked widespread protests, with teachers, through their unions, pressuring the employer to cover the costs of refresher training.
If approved, Kenyans will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets to send hundreds of thousands of teachers back to school across the country.
Over 750,000 teachers are expected to participate in the program, including 341,760 from TSC, 170,000 from the private sector, and 238,686 unemployed.
The new regulations, which go into effect in September 2021, are intended to ensure that tutors remain competent throughout their teaching careers and adapt to new changes.
The training will also capture the Competency-Based Curriculum – CBC and standardize approaches to knowledge sharing.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia explained at the time that the program would be a lifelong commitment with six hierarchical competency levels, divided into five-year increments
Successful teachers will have their teaching certificates renewed every five years at the end of each module.
The program has so far been implemented at several institutions of higher learning, including Mount Kenya University and Kenyatta University.
Riara University and the Kenya Education Management Institute are also involved in the program’s implementation.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia
Simultaneously, the teachers’ employer is likely to lose its power as a regulator and employer after MPs asked Parliament to amend the TSC Act, 2012 and Article 237 of the Constitution.
Teachers were not involved or consulted in the development of the plan, according to a report tabled by Parliamentary Education and Research Committee chairperson Florence Mutua on Thursday evening.
“TSC should conduct extensive public participation as required under Article 232(1)(d) of the Constitution and take into account the views of teachers, trade unions and other stakeholders with a view of building consensus,” the report says.
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Florence Mutua, who also serves as the Busia Woman Representative, stated that the institutions offering the program should be sourced more broadly in order to ensure an even distribution of the centers across the counties.
Teachers have urged Parliament to request that the TSC establish a legislative and policy framework to provide for the establishment of a professional regulatory agency for teachers in order to avoid conflict of interest, accusing the TSC of acting as both an employer and a regulator.
Kenyans To Spend Ksh4.5 Billion To Retrain 750000 Teachers
