The Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training is set to continue this July when schools close with the government covering all the costs required for the training to go ahead.
This is after the National Treasury allocated Kshs. 1.16 billion to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to cover the cost of the TPD training.
The 2022-2023 National Treasury Budget had the Commission allocated Kshs. 289.37 billion as the gross current and capital estimates and the Kshs. 7.23 billion for general administration, planning and support services.
The allocation was done following a series of lobbying and requests being made by teachers’ unions mainly the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) through the education and budget committees.
To undergo the TPD training, teachers had been required to part with a stipend of Kshs. 6,000 for every module done after every five years.
In the training, some teachers have managed to attend the lessons physically while others have been attending the lessons remotely.
The institutions that were selected to train teachers on the TPD are Mount Kenya University, Riara University, Kenya Education Management Institute and Kenyatta University and had been contracted on an annual agreement with the option of extending.
In the six modules where training is done during the holidays, teachers are given marks and after completing the modules, teachers will be eligible for re-certification and promotion since the modules have been adapted according to the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).
“I thank Parliament for being a friend of the teachers despite opposition from the executive,” said Bomet Central Member of Parliament Ronald Tonui, who is also a member of the education committee.
According to Tonui, teachers will undergo their training in July without spending a penny.
He said that there had been concerns raised by teachers who had had a hard time obtaining the required funds for the TPD training.
The MPs said that TSC ought to make follow-ups with the National Treasury in order for the funds to be disbursed.
TSC introduced Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) and phased out the scheme of service for teachers where teachers used to be promoted based on their academic credentials.
The TPD faced a lot of opposition in the beginning but was eventually implemented in 2021.
Nominated Member of Parliament Wilson Sossion and former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) had earlier opposed the move to implement the TPD citing his non-involvement in the TPD’s formulation.
However, the TSC Chief Executive Officer Dr Nancy Macharia defended the implementation of the TPD saying that the programme updates teachers’ skills, knowledge, attitudes and values and promotes teachers’ learning communities.
According to Macharia, teachers would also be kept up-to-date with the changes in the field of academics.