KNUT Reaffirms Support For TPD Despite Strong Opposition From Teachers.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has officially announced its support for mandatory retraining of teachers despite strong opposition from teachers.
Collins Oyuu, the secretary-general of Knut, reiterated the importance of employer training and development on Tuesday, noting that many false claims have surrounded the recently launched program.
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To quell the ongoing opposition, Oyuu has challenged TSC to provide information on the retraining program.
“There’s a lot that is being said about the teacher professional development some say that the teachers will be required to travel for the training, this is not entirely true,” Oyuu said.
He called for stakeholder engagement and the Teachers Service Commission to work together to resolve the program's issues.
TSC launched the TPD programme on September 22nd, a new module that will see public school teachers renew their professional certificates every 5 years.
Teachers will now part with about 6 000 shillings every year for a six-year professional training in order to be issued with a professional teaching certificate apart from what they acquired in university.
The teaching certificate will be renewed after every five years. TSC chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said the aim is to make teaching in the country be run and managed like other professions such as law and engineering.
TSC said it will employ innovative assessment strategies such as reflective journals, portfolios and presentations to carry out the program. At the end of each module teachers who are successful will have their teaching certificates renewed after every five years.
TSC says teachers who fail to train will have licences revoked. Macharia stated on Wednesday that the move is intended to improve Kenyan teachers' professional standards as well as keep them up to date on emerging trends in the education sector.
TPD, she explained, is a life-long learning program divided into six hierarchical competency levels, with each level taking five years to complete.
“At the end of each module, successful teachers will have their teaching certificates renewed after every five years,” she said.
Macharia stated that in order to participate in this program, every teacher registered with the commission will be required to identify and register with one of the accredited service providers.
She urged teachers to embrace it, claiming that it benefits them in line with its goals. Mount Kenya University, Kenyatta University, Riara University, and Kenya Education Management Institute have so far been accredited by the commission to carry out the program.
In 2016, the Commission implemented Performance Contracting for Institutional Heads and Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) for teachers, with the goal of strengthening curriculum implementation and accountability in resource utilization to improve learning outcomes.
Teacher unions had previously urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to recall the performance appraisal tools, claiming that the exercise had caused teachers anxiety.
There were also concerns that the tool could be used to target teachers for promotion and unfairly blame them for poor performance. Macharia, on the other hand, stated that the quality of education has improved since the implementation of TPAD.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi has promised to challenge the oppressive Teacher Professional Development (TPD) Programme imposed by the Teacher's Service Commission TSC in court.
Justice David Nderitu of the Employment and Labour Relations Court however refused to suspend the implementation of the TPD program and directed the petitioner, Joseph Karanja, to serve all parties before the October 7 hearing.
Judge Nderitu stated that the petition's issues were serious and directed Karanja to file a complaint and serve as the respondents who include the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and the Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha.
“The petitioner (Karanja) is ordered to serve the pleading on all the parties for the hearing of the said notice of motion inter-parties,” ordered Nderitu.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Kenyatta University (KU), Mt Kenya University (MKU), Riara University, and the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) are to be served as well.
TSC's launch of TPD modules sparked a debate, with the majority of teachers opposing the plan. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) branches have written to secretary-general Akelo Misori on teachers' rejection of Teachers Professional Development (TPD) Modules.
They say that the TPD training is not an emergency and therefore TSC must withdraw it and hold consultative meetings with relevant stakeholders on the best opinions to roll it out if at all it is of any importance.
Whereas teachers agree that TSC TPD is a form of employee Professional Development to address gaps identified by the employer normally through research, the Migori Kuppet branch says it is the responsibility of the employer to plan such training or capacity building programs, identify cost implications and budget as per the projected cost to train her employees including paying for the training units/modules, accommodation, transport, meals and strenuous allowances, Just as it is the case.
The National Executive Board demands that the employer should first recognize and promote all those teachers who have undertaken post-graduate training before rolling out an exercise that is against accepted labour practices.
They say the choice of universities selected is suspicious because no consultation on the choices made was done. Further, if indeed the modules should be carried out then all public universities must be involved.
Those opposed to the modules states that if they are absolutely necessary then the employer should meet the cost of the training. A group of teachers drawn from all the 47 counties say the directive by the teacher's employer is null and void.
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