TSC and Teachers’ Unions Commit to Quality Education
According to Nancy Macharia, the chief executive officer of the Teachers Service Commission, the quality of education a student receives is extremely dependent on the teacher.
She stated that when students achieve academic success, all credit goes to their instructors.
Christopher Pyne, one of the scholars, emphasized that a quality education starts with the best teachers. He stressed that the quality of an education system cannot surpass the quality of its teachers.
She spoke on Thursday during the Nairobi celebration of World Teacher’s Day 2023.
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The theme for this year’s event is “The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage.”
Macharia stated that the theme for this year’s celebration is very pertinent, given that the Kenya Kwanza government recently hired 56,000 teachers to increase classroom presence.
She stated that teachers should be honored because they have performed exceptionally well in providing quality education to students.
Macharia especially praised the teachers this year for reestablishing the school calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted it.
She stated that after the pandemic, the school calendar was shortened, which caused stress for both teachers and students.
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Macharia expressed that they are celebrating the teachers for handling the immense pressure over the past two years, which has allowed them to attain a regular school calendar in the year 2023.
In accordance with the competency-based curriculum, she also praised teachers for facilitating the transition of sixth-graders to seventh-graders in junior high.
Macharia stated that the commission’s top priority is to assure the well-being of educators.
Akelo Misori, the secretary general of KUPPET, has called for a strategic approach to helping Kenya find the teachers it needs to deliver the high-quality education that society wants.
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Misori stated that for instructors to provide quality education, they must be highly motivated.
He asserted to the commission that they must receive fair compensation, emphasizing Kuppet’s influence by saying, “Kuppet power.”
Collins Oyuu, secretary general of Knut, stated that the world is undergoing a transformation and that, to attain quality education, education must also undergo a transformation.
“We must walk hand in hand with the evolving education system,” he said.
He urged TSC to join Knut and other teachers’ unions in empowering teachers to deliver quality education to students.
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Oyuu emphasized the need for collaboration between teachers’ unions and the TSC, the employer, to achieve the desired outcome of having the teachers necessary for the education system.
According to Oyuu, both teachers and the TSC cannot operate independently but must work together.
According to him, a teacher who is well cared for will perform well in the classroom and provide quality instruction.
Oyuu assured that the union will always support Kenyan educators.
Benta Opande, the chief executive officer of the Kenya Women Teacher’s Association, stated that in order for the nation to attain education quality that meets international standards, the country must have teachers with the appropriate content value.
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Opande reported that KEWOTA has taken a significant step by launching a laptop project. Under this initiative, laptops are being provided to teachers, and these laptops come preloaded with approximately 140 digitized textbooks.
She stated that instructors can now bring laptops to class instead of textbooks.
According to Opande, a teacher can create their lesson plans, instruction records, and scheme of work on a laptop.
She stated that KEWOTA is encouraging educators to improve their digital learning and teaching skills.
She expressed that once teachers are proficient in teaching using the available gadgets, there will no longer be a need to lament the shortage of educators.
This is because a single teacher can instruct 300 learners in just one hour, with immediate feedback capabilities.
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She stated that the laptop also includes a program that pays instructors for uploading questions.
The programme selects questions, and the teacher is compensated based on the questions selected.
She stated that this will be similar to a side gig for instructors. She stated that KEWOTA is working to increase teachers’ salaries and improve their abilities.
Opande emphasized the importance of not leaving their teachers behind in the 20th century.
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TSC and Teachers’ Unions Commit to Quality Education
