The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has identified new job descriptions for classroom teachers which could lead to managerial and supervisory roles in schools assigned to them.
Speaking to the media in his office, the KUPPET Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima noted that the 2016/2017 SRC job evaluation assigned many supervisory roles to heads of schools hence classroom teachers have left with just two roles; the role of delivering the curriculum and co-curriculum activities.
“When SRC was doing evaluation last time, they took most of the responsibilities of classroom teachers to the Principals, leaving them with only two job descriptions and when the 54 billion was allocated in the current CBA, teachers lost out,” said the KUPPET Sec-Gen.
KUPPET has come up with thirty – one (31) new job descriptions which capture what KUPPET believes to be the ‘true’ worth of classroom teachers and submitted the same to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) so that they can submit them to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to undergo re-evaluation for full capturing in the 2021/2022 – 2021/2025 remuneration cycle.
The suggested job descriptions take to capture the classroom teachers’ new responsibilities under the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). Besides, managerial or supervisory roles are given to classroom teachers.
“Majority of the workforce is in the lower job groups and therefore this CBA proposes a re-evaluation of jobs that teachers do to warrant the increase,” states the 2021-2025 CBA proposal.
The new supervisory roles that KUPPET propose include:
- Supervising adherence by learners to school rules regulations and routine;
- Coordinating learning and teaching activities for effective learning;
- Supervising learners safety and health during practical learning sessions,
- Supervising school programs and activities while on duty; and
- Coordinating subjects in their areas of specialization.
The new operational responsibilities of the classroom teachers include among other things:
- Undertaking duties as per the approved curriculum;
- Assess learners’ abilities, skills, and learning needs;
- Developing and maintaining professional documents;
- Prepare assessment rubrics and guide learners in the development of portfolios
- Mentoring and coaching newly recruited teachers; and
- Monitoring learners’ achievements through continuous assessment.
“KUPPET and TSC have developed new Job Descriptions capturing the true worth of a classroom teacher. The new descriptions recognize the teachers’ leadership and technical work within and outside the classroom, which had been ignored by the evaluation tool previously used by TSC,” read a KUPPET statement.
The Union’s officials have, however, become concerned over the delayed talks over the new salaries considering that it is only months remaining for the current CBA to end, shifting the blame to the SRC for not giving advisory for the talks.
“We are seriously concerned by this delay by SRC since the expiry of the current CBA on the 30th of June is fast approaching,” said Akello Misori, the KUPPET Secretary-General in a statement following a meeting with TSC.
There is a reason for intern teachers to smile about KUPPET’s efforts as the new proposed CBA will see them earn a monthly pay of 25,000 as well as being retained for more than six months before they are employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
Besides, the union also wants TSC to provide scholarships to teachers doing Master’s degrees in education programs and activities in class.
KUPPPET also wants the Commission to be in charge of pension for teachers, unlike the current setup where retired teachers are frustrated and are not able to access their pension.
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