It is time to rethink the mandate of Teachers Service Commission

As the Jubilee government enters its seventh year in office, we should take stock of its achievements in the education sector. Even after failing to deliver on pre-election free laptop for every Standard One going child, the Uhuru Kenyatta-led government should be lauded for the increasing funding to the basic education sector, funding infrastructure projects, raising enrolment and transition rate to secondary school. The timely marking and releasing of national exams is a milestone.

OVERLAPPING ROLES

Even with all these, the government should relook at laws and policies governing the education sector against the national values and principles as enshrined in article 10 (2) of 2010 Constitution. These values include; national unity, sharing and devolution of power, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the people; human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised among others. Following the promulgation of the Constitution, two laws were enacted by Parliament. These are Basic Education Act 2013 and Teachers Service Commission Act 2012, which established several offices with varying and sometimes overlapping functions.

The Teachers Service Commission is an independent body empowered to register trained teachers; to recruit and employ registered teachers; to assign teachers employed by the commission for service in any public school or institution; to promote and transfer teachers; to exercise disciplinary control over teachers; and to terminate the employment of teachers. All these functions, in my considered opinion, are clerical in nature, and did not warrant the setting up of a constitutional body.

TEACHER TRAINING

The commission does not participate in day-to-day training of teachers or development of curriculum. Instead, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is charged with training teachers and oversees curriculum implementation. One would therefore be tempted to say TSC does not have the capacity to support teacher training before and after recruitment.

The functions enumerated in the Constitution are structurally and statutorily beyond the realm of the TSC. Its constitutional requirement to review the standards of education and training of persons entering the teaching service; the demand for and the supply of teachers; and advise the national government on matters relating to the teaching profession are, in my opinion voyeuristic functions. These functions should be transferred to National Education Board as set out in section 5 of the Basic education Act 2013. In fact, these are fertile grounds for turf wars as was witnessed recently when Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed attempted to lower the entry grade to teacher training programmes, which TSC fought back through the State Law office.

Kap Telwa is a lecturer of Journalism and Media Law at Multimedia University of Kenya; kipkiruikaptelwa@gmail com