Only 20000 Teachers Register for December TPD Throwing TSC Plans In Disarray
The Teachers Service Commission’s (TSC) plans are in disarray as teachers have ignored the Commission’s directive to register for the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training with a meagre 20,000 teachers have registered to the programme.
According to the Commission, all serving teachers will be given a teaching certificate in the programme. The certificates will be valid for five years and shall be renewed after completing the TPD modules.
The Chief Executive Secretary for Basic Education Sarah Ruto has revealed that only 20,000 teachers out of the more than 300,000 teachers registered under TSC.
TSC had instructed teachers to register for TPD training to facilitate the implementation of the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
A TSC selected a number of universities to conduct the TPD training. Among the universities selected are Kenyatta University, Riara University, Mount Kenya University and the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) to offer TPD training.
The TPD training will be both virtual and physical (face to face). Teachers will be able to attend physical training once a year during the December school holidays. On the other hand, virtual training will be offered during the April and August school holidays.
At the moment, most teachers have not registered because they have reservations over the Sh 6,000 they will have to pay for the thirty years to attend the programme.
A number of people including educationists, lawyers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and teachers’ unions have called on the Commission to take on the costs of the TPD training.
“Teachers are crucial in the implementation of the CBC and the emphasis of the Ministry of Education is for teachers to attend advanced training in order for them to fasten the roll-out of the programme by 2023,” said Dr Sarah Ruto.
Speaking while in Chemundu in Nandi on Thursday, Dr Sarah said that the shortage of skilled teachers threatens to derail the implementation of the CBC within the stipulated time.
According to TSC, every teacher on the Commission’s payroll must undergo the mandatory professional courses that will affect the promotion and professional growth.
“We are urging teachers to exploit funding from NG-CDF and county education bursaries to be able to address the issue of school fees, and we are asking them to try and get trained for the sake of our young people,” said Dr Sarah Ruto.
The Ministry of Education is intending to train 218,000 teachers in public and private primary schools who already have a P1 certificate to advance their training for the sake of the CBC.
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