Knut demands meeting with TSC over teacher training
Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The court ruling further directed the teacher’s employer not to implement TPD citing its lack of compliance with provisions of the statutory instruments 2013.
Denis Sinyolo, an education policy expert and researcher, condemned failure of the Kenyan government to comply with a court order.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has Teachers Service Commission a seven-day ultimatum to hold a consultative meeting over Teacher Professional Development Modules (TPD). The union has also dismissed the TPD roll-out citing lack of legal backing.
INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Speaking in Maanzoni, Machakos County on Tuesday, Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion urged Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui and his Education counterpart George Magoha to intervene failure to which teachers will resort to an industrial action.
Mr Sossion invoked a ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations Court dated July 12, 2019 that indicated that disputed TPD modules should not be implemented since they fell ‘short of professional development programmes’ in line with TSC’s career development and progression regulations.
The court ruling further directed the teacher’s employer not to implement TPD citing its lack of compliance with provisions of the statutory instruments 2013.
DEFIANCE
“The commission in defiance of the law has again unilaterally contracted four educational institutions which will train teachers at a mandatory Sh6,000 fee for a single attendance, and the teacher has to train five times during his or her teaching career,” said Mr Sossion.
He added deductions from the teachers’ salaries were unjustified. He said that the TSC should stick to its mandate as an employer and not a policy maker.
He said TSC should engage Knut and agree on career progression in the teaching service.
“We were not involved in development of the TPD modules which the commission has planned to roll out in April. The commission, for unexplained reasons, has continued to mislead the public that it engaged all stake holders,” said Mr Sossion.
TPD MODULES
He said that teachers fear that the TPD modules could be used to replace academic certificates, which have been used to promote teachers as per the schemes of service.
Denis Sinyolo, an education policy expert and researcher, condemned failure of the Kenyan government to comply with a court order.
The educationists said they will not allow TSC get away with ‘bad policies’ that will go a long way in harming welfare of Kenyan teachers.
In a letter dated February, 18, 2020, Knut told Labour CS to convene an urgent meeting between the aggrieved parties within seven days. He told the TSC to prepare for more court battles.
