Educations CS Amina and TSC engage in turf wars

Who will blink first in the ongoing supremacy battle between Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chief executive officer Nancy Macharia?

The two are battling over various issues in the education sector, including quality assurance in schools, punishment for teachers who misuse government resources in the course of their duties and determination of entry grades to teachers training colleges (TTCs).

For a long time, the ministry has been uncomfortable with TSC which seems to have taken over almost all its functions.

The latest row that has laid bare the differences is the decision by Ms Mohamed to lower entry grade to TTCs, which TSC has rejected despite several meetings to resolve the issue.

Ms Macharia has now sought the intervention of the High Court after she snubbed a meeting called by Ms Mohamed on Tuesday to resolve the matter as directed by the Labour court on December 20.

Instead she sent her officers accompanied by lawyers who maintained a hardline position throughout the meeting, insisting Ms Mohamed has no power to determine entry grades and cited various constitutional provisions.

The two have not been seeing each other eye to eye since the debate started in October when Ms Mohamed lowered the entry grade to TTCs and directed Ms Macharia to enforce the order.

While lowering the grade, Ms Mohamed said it was to cater for students in 17 marginalised areas in the country which, she said, were not producing enough candidates to join TTCs.

This did not go well with TSC which employs over 312,000 teachers for public schools, which fall under Ms Mohamed.

In her battle with the CS, Ms Macharia has the backing of Attorney General Kihara Kariuki who in an advisory opinion in November dismissed the cabinet secretary on the issue.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (Kuppet) is also behind Ms Macharia. It had a case in the Labour court but has withdrawn it and instead filed an application at the High Court.

However, Ms Mohamed is enjoying the support of Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Caught in the midst of these turf wars are 3,450 trainee teachers who had already reported in October and paid fees but are now at home waiting for the two government officers to end their fight.

On Thursday, Ms Macharia — in a sworn affidavit — took on Ms Mohamed, saying her directive amounted to a unilateral amendment of the TSC regulations 2016 and had created anxiety in the teaching profession as well as brought into question TSC’s regulatory mandate as provided in the Constitution.

“Unless this case herein is heard on a priority basis and the illegal actions of the CS reversed, this subject matter shall be rendered nugatory and an exercise in futility,” said Ms Macharia in the affidavit filed by lawyer Oyucho Timon.

Another bone of contention between the TSC and the ministry is the issue of quality assurance.

TSC has its own quality assurance team while the ministry has its own officers and all are supposed to supervise teachers in public schools.

Despite an earlier advisory that the TSC has no role in quality assurance of education in schools, the commission went ahead and recruited staff in the directorate and designated them as curriculum support officers.

In May, the TSC appointed Mr Reuben Mugwuku as the director of quality assurance and standards directorate.

The Education ministry has a directorate of quality assurance and standards, headed by Mr Pius Mutisya, with similar functions.