KNUT Wants TPD Halted and CBC Teachers Training Given Priority.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has demanded that the introduction of the controversial Teacher Professional Development (TPD) be halted.
During the Kisumu conference the unions demanded that training for teachers to apply the new curriculum be given priority.
Just days before the end of the year, the leadership of KNUT and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) coordinated the publication of the bombshell.
“We are in discussions to bring all teachers under one confederation so that we can shoot from one point.
“We are on top gear to unite as teachers’ union so that no union shall be left behind. We shall use collective voice to address teachers’ issues,” said Oyuu.
Oyuu, who spoke in Kisumu, where the union convened its 62nd annual delegates conference, criticized the Teachers Service Commission’s (TSC) proposal to take Sh6,000 annually per teacher to pay the Teachers Professional Development Programme (TDP).
The program that aims to retool public and private school teachers must be sponsored by the government, he stressed.
“We don’t have enough for our teachers to sustain themselves. How can we ask them to pay Sh. 6, 000 for this programme?” he posed.
According to him, the union has asked the education committee of Parliament to investigate the situation and allocate Sh4.5 billion to fund the initiative.
Over 2,000 delegates from the union’s 110 branches are gathered in Kisumu for the Annual Delegates Conference, when the union will declare its position on key problems confronting the teaching community.
He noted that the delocalization policy, which resulted in the breakup of so many families, ultimately destroyed the morale of teachers.
The second concern, he stated, was the promotion of teachers based on professional in-service training in lieu of extra academic credentials.
The secretary-general stated that the union will advocate for teachers to be promoted based on their newly obtained academic credentials, given the substantial investment in training.
“Teachers have taken loans to further studies and therefore deserve to get the promotions,” he said.
KNUT Wants TPD Halted and CBC Teachers Training Given Priority.
