The four universities accredited to offer refresher courses to secondary school teachers are likely to suffer a big blow after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) hinted at discontinuing the programme. TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia told lawmakers it is considering abandoning the use of the universities to offer the short courses, known as Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training, and instead revert to the existing Teacher Training Colleges to run the programme. She said the decision aims to address costs and other logistical challenges that it faced in the rolling out of the programme.

The universities currently offering the training are Mt Kenya, Kenyatta and Riara universities as well as the Kenya Education Management Institute. “In view of the feedback from teachers and other stakeholders, the commission is in consultation with the Ministry of education to use the existing teacher training colleges as centres for capacity building and professional development programmes for teachers. This will address the issue of costs and other logistical challenges the commission has faced in rolling out the programme,” said Macharia.

While appearing before the implementation committee to give the status of TPD following the resolution of parliament to have the programme suspended, Macharia further explained that their decision also follows the high court decision to dismiss the case against the implementation of the training as well as the numerous feedback from teachers as well as stakeholders. The contract awarded to the four universities is expected to come to an end in September yet TSC has not yet begun the implementation process.

Macharia’s sentiments will be music to teachers’ ears as they have raised concerns over the programme on grounds that it is too expensive for them. She added, “Members as I said this is just the start but we learnt our lesson, we now know better. We have accredited some institutions we will accommodate even more. I want to assure you that we have learnt and things will change in the second phase.”

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She however defended the private universities saying they were accredited to offer the said programme after they applied for the tender when the commission advertised for it She said that it is unfortunate that some of the public universities did not tender for the said exercise and thus the commission’s hands were tied. “We did not lock out anyone from this tender, we advertised and institutions applied, I don’t know why some of these universities did not apply. It is regrettable that some of these institutions did not apply because it would have been very helpful to teachers as they would not have been forced to travel to get the training,” she said.

Macharia made the remarks on the day lawmakers demanded to know the criteria the commission used to accredit the four universities as well as the process it adopted to settle on the Sh 6000 that each teacher is supposed to pay annually to undergo the training.

The committee members took on the commission accusing it of overseeing an exercise that is biased, expensive and discriminatory. They argued that public universities should have been given the first priority when it comes to offering the said courses as TSC is a public institution funded by the exchequer.

The Education committee of the twelfth parliament recommended the suspension of the training on grounds that teachers were not involved and consulted in coming up with the plan. Committee chairperson and Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala told TSC to explain whether public participation was undertaken before settling on the said programme. Marakwet West MP Timothy Toroitich who also asked TSC to explain how it arrived at the figure of Sh 6,000 claimed that private universities selected to offer the said programme will rake in more than Sh one billion which should have been channelled to public universities.

According to the commission, teachers will be required to pay Sh6,000 every year for the training sessions, assessment, reporting and other associated costs that in the end will see a teacher paying Sh30,000 to complete one module in five years and Sh180,000 for the three decades six modules. “Out of simple calculations we have seen that all teachers will be required to pay about Sh 4.5billion and private universities will get more than Sh one billon from this yet this is money that should have been given to public universities,” he said.

Mammoth crowds were witnessed at Sheikh Zayed Children’s Welfare Centre in Mombasa yesterday and part of today as school heads were scrambling for the ‘few chances’ of getting registered with the teacher professional development (TPD) training institutes present at the conference.

This occurred after the speech by the TSC Director for Quality Assurance and Standards Dr. Reuben Ntamburi and the continuous TSC/ KESSHA organised guidance and consultation sessions at the grounds.

 TSC directors present at the conference said that all teachers must be under the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) training as a statutory requirement.

According to the Director for Quality Assurance and Standards Reuben Ntamburi, TPD is a requirement under the law and no teacher will escape it. He also said teachers will continue to pay for the programme until parliament allocates funds.

“TPD is required under the law. The elephant in the room is the Sh6,000 for training. We are making efforts to convince parliament to allocate funds for it,” he said.

Dr Ntamburi said TSC has picked four universities to undertake the training of teachers on TPD, online. This will happen over five days from May 9.

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According to a witness present at the conference, deliberations by the TSC staff could have led to this turn of events. The witness, who sought anonymity, revealed that KEMI, MKU and Kenyatta University all erected tents at the grounds from Sunday to receive and register the heads for TPD Training, in a move that seemed somehow orchestrated prior to the event. Sources revealed also that KEMI registered the highest number of heads for TPD since it’s tent had not only the longest, but also the thickest queue.

“Principals are registering for the illegal TPD in mass. Don’t be deceived that TPD stopped and that no lessons are going on. These people have betrayed teachers a great deal,” revealed a witness.

Though very contentious, issues dealing with the  teacher professional development (TPD) , which visible shocked the school heads, were brought again at the conference.

The heads were shocked that even after the national assembly order to TSC to stop TPD until it meets certain conditions, the latter still has intentions of forcing teachers to pursue TPD and pay for the training before fulfilling any condition.

The teacher professional development training which started this week has not been doing well, with majority of teachers who enrolled caught denied access to the training links despite paying for the programme.

Mount Kenya University started the online training on December 27 while Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) started theirs on December 28.

Arguing from the post training reactions of the few teachers who attended the training, the training has somehow been rough with some teachers who paid for the training but have been struggling to get the links that would direct them to the training site.

“Am so frustrated. Cannot login I feel like quitting MKU I have tried to reset password with no response via email. Sms says reset successfully yet can’t login,” recounts one of the teachers who enrolled.

Rejoining the class after accidentally quitting has also not been a ride, with the system demanding for a reset of their passwords.

“Hello, anyone who got the link to TPD class to share please,”

“Share the link for login in. I have same login problem on my side,”

“I am not getting on the track. Help.”

“This is a Very frustrating programme. I am unable to reset password to rejoin class,” complained another teacher. These sentiments have been echoed by another teachers, who describes the entire process as frustrations in the chat section of one of the zoom lessons. “Frustrations tupu,” quipped the teacher through a chat.

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“Is the TPD training on? and if it is so, where is the link?” asked another teacher in a Whatsapp group created by one of the contracted institutions.

“What will I do to recover yesterday’s lessons woye,” cried another teacher who had struggled the previous day to access the training but failed.

The trainees have also complained of redundancy, arguing that the lessons could not take off from the introduction and that the trainers kept revolving around the introduction.

“Has anyone received any other lesson apart from the introduction these guys have been repeating since morning? I feel MKU is taking us for a ride,” complained a deputy principal in another WhatsApp group.

“I paid Kenyatta university sh. 3,000 but now I don’t know where to start. No link and no communication. am confused,” complained another teacher.

Some teachers have protested the move by Mount Kenya which initially allowed sh. 1,000 for registration and the rest payable in installments for twelve months.

The registration fee has since been revised upward. Teachers now pay sh. 2,000 as registration fee.

However, Riara university allows teachers to pay sh. 500 for registration and the rest spread for twelve months.

According to the document titled Teacher Professional Development Framework and Roll Out of Structured TPD in Kenya prepared the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), teachers currently employed or serving under the commission and who will not have renewed their teaching certificates by 2027 will automatically be deregistered by TSC.

The implication is that teachers who will not have completed their first module of TPD risk being deregistered and losing their teaching jobs since TSC dictated that teachers should renew their certificates after every five years.

Teachers who want their certificates renewed will have to complete 5 chapters of a module and provided documentary evidence of successful completion.

The teachers’ employer rolled out TPD in September 2021 and the pioneer classes are expected to begin on December 27. One module takes five years to complete hence the implication that by 2027, all currently serving primary and secondary teachers should have completed the first module and renewed their teaching certificates.

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After the completion of the five chapters of module one and certification, a teacher will proceed to level two.  “Upon commencement of the TPD Programme, all serving teachers will be required to acquire teaching certificates renewable every 5 years while the subsequent applicants for Certificate of Registration will be issued with both certificates,” reads a section of the document.

The TPD framework outlines that the TPD programme will adopt two dimensions; the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) and Modules prescribed by the commission. Each module will contain five chapters which include professionalism, pedagogy and Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) and inclusive Education practices, Assessment and reporting, comprehensive school health safety and financial literacy skills and instructional leadership for teachers. The teachers will earn 40 marks by fully participating in TPAD and 60 marks from the TPD modules.

While TPD programmes are practised globally and believed to instil continuous skills, the recently launched programme by the Commission has attracted mixed reactions. Some teachers have called for the suspension of the programme, others want the employer to provide funding, while another group is pushing the period of the in-service training to be reduced.

The new roll out of the TPD programme was necessitated by the 21st Century demands for the 21st Century learners who are confronted with increasingly complex social, cultural, economic, technological and global challenges. It was argued that teachers must prepare learners who possess sophisticated, diversified and complementary competencies that will enable them to navigate through these challenges. “Teachers just like other professionals, participate in professional development to learn and apply new knowledge and skills that will improve their competence and leadership capacity through structured programmes developed by a regulator,” reads the document.

Following the shift in the teaching profession, the Commission maintains that they had to develop a TPD Policy Framework which made TPD compulsory to all teachers, made TPD activities a lifelong learning programme carried out in 6 levels and introduced the Kenya Professional Teaching Standards (KePTS) and the use of accredited TPD Service Providers to deliver the programme.

“All TPD programmes organised by the Commission or by accredited service providers will be based on   KePTS , a set of competency standards that describe what a Kenyan teacher should know and be able to do for improved learning outcomes,” adds the document.

TPD programme is structured into six sequential levels corresponding to the competency level of the teachers with   each level having a corresponding TPD Module. The six levels are Knowledge level on the standards (level 1), application level (level 2), mastery level (level 3), mentorship and coaching (level 4), institutional leadership (level 5) and mastery in instructional leadership (level 6).

The Commission states that Level 1 will apply to teachers who have only served for 5 years while Level 6 teachers are the most experienced teachers with competencies to guide young teachers to be instructional leaders.

“Each level will be offered as per the specific module of the level. Each module is designed to add value and improve teachers’ competencies and learner outcomes. TPD Service providers will deliver each module on behalf of TSC,” reads the document.

The Commission notes that TPD activities will be evaluated based on authentic assessment which will include reflective journal, participant led final synthesis and individual Professional Portfolio Development and Presentation. Teachers are expected to enrol and undertake a face-to-face TPD programme session once a year during the school holiday and online TPD sessions during the other two school holidays. The face-to-face sessions will be for a minimum of 40 hours per week and will be undertaken at all sub-county training centres across the country.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC)Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, has issued the date when teachers will start their Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program.

Macharia said the training will start in five days’ time as she warned teachers who have not registered for the program.

She was talking in during a press briefing where she maintained that teachers who will attend the training will be issued with teaching certificates (licence) that will authorize them to teach.

However, those who will fail to attend the training, she said, will be dealt with according to the TSC Code of Regulations for Teachers (CORT).

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“A teacher who fails to undertake a prescribed TPD or take a teaching certificate shall be dealt with according to the code of regulations for teachers,” said Macharia.

According to Macharia, the training is aimed to enhance previous teachers training and asked both public and private school teachers to register for the training. She said the training will be purely online.

Her sentiments come few days after the official TPD training centres for teachers were released.

The teacher training programme is scheduled to start next week Monday 13th December 2021 and will be purely online (virtual).

TSC picked four institutions to offer teacher training. These are Mount Kenya University,Riara University, Kenyatta University and Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI).

The training which takes 30 years will cost a teacher sh. 6,000 yearly. However, most TPD Service Providers have spread the fee for a period of 12 months to ease payment for teachers.

During the December training teachers will be introduced to the first module, Introductory

module.

This program will introduce teachers to Teacher Professional Development and to the Seven Kenya Professional Teaching Standards (KePIS).

The introductory module has five chapters, which are expected to be completed within one year.

The content of each chapter is based on current knowledge and research applicable to the practical needs of a Kenyan classroom teacher.

After the introductory module, the teachers and the instructing leaders will then proceed to the level one module.

There will be two different modules: One for the Teachers and the one for Instructional Leaders.

Level One module will have 5 chapters. A teacher or an instructional leader will take one chapter per year for a period of 5 years but to a maximum of 7 years. Level two to Level six modules will each take 5 years.

Despite some teachers opposing the programme, the Commission has vowed to proceed with its plans to train its teachers.

“It is the question of what do we want best for our teachers, the future of a teacher in the country. the 21st century teacher. We would like to get a professionalized teacher, and that one we are not relenting on it,” said TSC Director of Quality Assurance and Standards, Dr. Reuben Nthamburi.