Economy

TSC to sack lazy teachers in new tough guidelines

class

A teacher takes Class Eight pupils through a lesson at the Mombasa Primary School on October 5 following the end of a five-week strike. PHOTO | FILE

Teachers’ performance will be appraised based on their implementation of the curriculum, with those who score poorly facing the sack, their employer has said in new regulations to guide their conduct.

The Code of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers, which was tabled in the National Assembly last week, states that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will use the appraisal reports for promotion, deployment and other rewards for teachers.

“Any teacher who consistently displays poor performance or adverse appraisal ratings may after due process have his services terminated,” adds the regulations developed by the TSC.

The regulations will be scrutinised by the Committee on Delegated Legislation, which can only annul sections it would consider illegal, or the entire rules, but cannot introduce changes.

The proposed Code of Conduct comes at a moment when the teachers’ unions are locked in a vicious court battle with the TSC over demands that the tutors receive a pay raise of up to 60 per cent.

The government has rejected the demands, saying they would put unsustainable pressure on the budget.

School heads will be required to provide oversight in the performance appraisals of teachers in their respective schools. “Every head of institution shall submit an annual staff appraisal report to the commission,” states the code.

The commission will determine the intervals at which appraisals in the educational institutions will be conducted.

The TSC will take disciplinary action against a teacher who fails to complete and submit an appraisal report to the supervisor or refuses or neglects to discuss or sign the appraisal report. The commission will also have quality assurance and standards officers at the county and sub-county levels.

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The officers will have powers to enter any educational institution to ensure performance standards are complied with.

They will also be able to summon and interview teachers and any other person to provide information or material related to standards of assessment.

“The officers will carry out performance assessment and discuss the findings with the teacher concerned for purposes of corrective action and continuous improvement,” state the regulations.

The TSC will also conduct joint standard assessment with other government agencies, monitor the performance of teachers in schools and perform all other related duties that will be necessary in promoting standards in the teaching profession.

There will also be curriculum support centres at the zonal level or any other level in the sub-county.

Curriculum support officers will identify the training needs of teachers and heads of institutions and advise the TSC accordingly.

However, the setting up of quality assurance offices by the TSC could escalate a conflict with the Ministry of Education, which has opposed such attempts.

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) in 2014 added its voice to the issue by advising that the TSC did not have mandate in quality assurance and management of schools as spelt out in the Constitution and the Basic Education Act.

This was after the Education ministry sought an advisory opinion from the CIC.

The advisory, signed by CIC vice-chairman Elizabeth Muli and copied to Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi and the TSC, among others, said the commission cannot be involved in quality assurance.

“TSC may only check a teacher’s quality status as part of its research to inform what needs to be done to improve a teacher’s standards through training, and to inform what they need to put as requirements for one to qualify to be registered as a teacher,” the CIC said.