The Teachers Service Commission is pushing for the new policy measure to promote professionalism.
More than 312,060 teachers face the sack for failure to attend six professional development training programmes that will also determine their promotions.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on Monday unveiled a new policy that will require teachers to undertake the training after every five years.
Each level of the training will take five years and is structured such that teachers will transit from one stage to the next until the sixth in their teaching careers spanning 25 to 30 years.
TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia said teachers who fail to undergo the training will be deregistered.
“These is a mandatory programme, those who will not undergo it will be dealt with according to the code of regulation for teachers and TSC Act, which may involve being kicked out of service or sacked,” said Mrs Macharia.
The training will also influence how teachers move up the 11 job grades and higher pay that comes with promotions.
“A teacher entering at Teacher Professional Development (TPD) level one will be required to complete seven sections of module one to be re-certified and progress to level two. This will also inform career progression,” states the policy framework whose development was supported by Unicef.
Teachers will bear the cost of professional development as is the case in other professions, said Mrs Macharia.
However, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (Kuppet) deputy secretary- general Moses Nturima, who attended the event criticised the commission for coming up with a policy without proper consultation.
Similar concerns were also raised by Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association.
“We will reject this policy if we discover that it will not benefit teachers since our input was not sought,” warned Mr Nturima.
Mrs Macharia said teacher professional development programme will address gaps identified in appraisal and help in re-certification of all teachers hence ensuring professional compliance.
TSC will identify service providers for the training.
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