Institutions charged with offering Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training are preparing to offer the training in April despite recommendations by Parliament for the programme to be stopped.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has also remained tight lipped on the subject since Parliament took a swipe.
The legislatures called for an immediate stop to the TPD courses until proper stakeholders’ consultations are undertaken.
The Mps also want the training fees of Sh6,000 paid by the government and the list of institutions offering the refresher courses expanded.
However the recent activities of the four TPD service providers speaks volume.
They have continued to engage teachers as well as advertise for the programme in various platform asking teachers to enroll.
TSC picked Mount Kenya, Kenyatta and Riara universities together with Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) to offer the training.
However in a report tabled in the House on March 3, National Assembly Education Committee want the training halted to save teachers from suffering.
The National Assembly Education Committee say that despite teachers being directly affected by the TPD policy, TSC did not involve teachers in the preparation of the policy framework for the TPD and its subsequent roll-out, contrary to the mandatory requirements of Article 232(1) (d) of the Constitution that require involvement of people in the process of policy making.
It further said, the TSC has not made public to the teachers of this country and other stakeholders in the education sector the considerations used in arriving at the exorbitant cost per module of the programme.
Teachers are required to pay Sh6, 000 for each module of the TPD.
This means that in an entire teaching career, each teacher will be required to take five modules within 30 years, translating to fees of about Sh180,000.
The Mps want TPD to be integrated with the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) training to avoid wastage of resources and time.
“To achieve a well-coordinated and holistic approach, the Teacher Professional Development Programme ought to have been integrated in the ongoing capacity strengthening programmes for teachers on Competency Based Curriculum so as to avoid duplication of Government effort, waste of public resources and subjecting teachers to bearing the burden of a mandatory programme,” read the report.
They recommended the Ministry of Education to take over implementation of the TPD Programme for teachers in public institutions.
The Committee said, the decision by the Commission to manage teachers’ professional development and regulate the teaching profession is a departure from the established practice where professions have self-regulatory mechanisms and bodies that are distinct from employers.
They said teachers are underpaid and most of them have stagnated in one job group for long without promotion.
In addition, the Mps said, teachers got nothing after signing of non-monetary Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2021-2025 and so will not be possible for them to shoulder the cost of training.
The report follows a petition tabled on October 5, 2021, by Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba on behalf of representatives of Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).
In the petition, Milemba raised issues on cost of the programme, selection of institutions to offer the course and whether public participation was done before roll-out.
Kuppet and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) have argued that even though continuous training sharpens skills, the cost should be carried by the employer.
Proposing suspension of the programme, MPs said: “That the TSC should conduct extensive public participation as required and take to account the views of teachers, trade unions and other stakeholders with a view of building consensus on the programme.”
The proposal is a major setback for the TSC that has been trying to professionalize the teaching service.
