Following the dismissal of a petition that sought to challenge the implementation of the Teacher Professional Development (TPD), the government now is facing the prospect of fulfilling its promise by incurring the cost of TPD.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru dismissed a petition lodged by Mr Joseph Ngethe Karanja who wanted the programme disbanded citing the lack of public participation and violation of teachers’ rights.
Following this, Justice David Nderitu allowed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to continue with the execution of the TPD programme after finding the process to be in line with the Constitution.
Teachers across the country are now optimistic that Dr William Ruto’s government will fulfil their promise by covering the cost of the TPD training.
During the campaigns and the launch of the manifesto at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani in Nairobi, Ruto revealed that his administration will cover the cost of the controversial teacher training programme.
The pledge by now the current and fifth President of the republic is further emphasized through the Kenya Kwanza Education Charter.
“Ensure that all the government initiated capacity building training including Teacher Continuous Professional Development are undertaken by trainers free of charge,” read the document.
However, it is yet to be revealed when the promise will be fulfilled. In September after all, schools were closed, and teachers were asked to attend the training and were required to pay an amount of Kshs. 6,000 for the introductory module which is set to end this December.
“September 2022 Intake is ongoing and the online training will be conducted from Monday 19th September 2022 t Friday 23rd September 2022,” read a Mount Kenya University document on the same.
President William Ruto’s administration will have to stump up around Kshs. 2 Billion every year to cover the cost of the training for teachers working under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). The total number of teachers working under the commission at the moment is at least 320,000.
The TPD was launched back in September 2021 requiring all teachers registered with the Commission to undertake the six-module course that would form the basis of their promotion and employment going forward.
Each teacher is required to part with Kshs. 6,000 for each module which will be valid for five years before undertaking the next module.
TSC selected Mount Kenya University, Riara University, Kenyatta University and the Kenya Education Management Institute in order to offer professional training.
The training has up to now been mostly online with fewer cases of teachers attending the training physically at the aforementioned accredited institutions.
Despite union teachers calling for the Commission to reduce the period teacher shave to undergo the training, this is yet to be addressed with things being the same up to now.
Through its Secretary-General Collins Oyuu, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) called on TSC to exclude teachers who are aged and are almost retiring from the profession from the programme.
Oyuu said that KNUT and TSC had agreed that the Commission should organize sensitization workshops for all teachers in order for them to understand the TPD and its implementation.
He said that the resistance witnessed following the launch of the TPD programme was caused by the lack of proper sensitization among teachers.
The Commission has insisted all along that all registered teachers must attend the training at their own cost.
There are six modules in the programme and the training is conducted during the school holidays with teachers being awarded several points after each module.
After teachers complete all the modules, they will be eligible for re-certification and promotion. This is because the modules have been adapted according to the career progression guidelines.