Politics and policy
Teachers face tough choices on qualification
Photo/EMMA NZIOKA Teachers raise hands in solidarity with Knut demands that the government includes their pay demands in the Budget during a press briefing in Nairobi on March 5, 2012.
Posted Thursday, July 26 2012 at 22:11
Teachers registered with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) but lacking some teaching skills or subject combinations will be required to get extra training or face deregistration.
This was one of the proposals the commission made to the Parliamentary Education Committee on Thursday when making final amendments to the Teachers Service Commission Bill, 2012, which was passed by Parliament last month.
TSC boss Gabriel Lengoiboni said teachers’ who fell short in terms of subjects studied and pedagogy — holistic teaching skills — should be given a window to retrain instead of getting sacked.
This is sometimes the case with teachers who get post-graduate diplomas in subjects not in the curriculum.
“Such teachers need to be given the chance to acquire these missing qualifications after which they can be vetted afresh by the TSC,” said Mr Lengoiboni.
“This will help us maintain a strict definition of who a teacher is by basing it on how relevant this person is to the present day curriculum.”
The minimum requirement for secondary school level is two teaching subjects relevant to the curriculum and for special needs, at least one teaching subject and sign language or Braille.
Committee chairman and Mosop MP David Koech said there was need to safeguard teachers who have gained experience in their respective fields but may lack the certification.
“We need to give such individuals hope that they still have a chance to go back to class through the various programmes available since their knowhow is very important,” said Mr Koech.
The committee also mulled over the possibility of deleting the requirement to have a Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) representative in the selection panel that will interview and vet prospective commission members.
The proposal to have the FKE member replaced by a university dean on a rotation basis, however, did not sail through. Today, the Committee will hear proposals from Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT).
The Bill is in the final committee stage.
mmutegi@ke.nationmedia.com
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