A total of 26,000 teachers have been targeted to be trained on coaching and mentorship in what can be seen as a humanistic approach that Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is employing in dealing with indiscipline cases among teachers.

The programme is meant to target new teachers joining the teaching service notably new recruits, those in internship and those joining the administrative positions of leading the institutions and those having challenges in performance.

Teachers will be trained in three financial years starting with 2021/22 financial years to 2023/24 which will target a total of 13,000 teachers in each financial year. According to the Commission Secretary, Dr. Nancy Macharia, the many hours wasted in form of teacher-learner contact time results in poor learning outcomes and a drop in performance at all levels.

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“To address this challenge, the Commission, in its Strategic Plan 2019 -2023, committed to implement mentorship and coaching as a preventive strategy that pre-empts indiscipline amongst teachers rather than corrective mechanisms in management of discipline,” states Dr. Macharia in the policy document.

The programme is also expected to target a total of 12,000 School administrators and Boards of Management (BoMs) who will be trained on management of discipline cases, and this will capture a total of 4,000 teachers in each financial year till 2024 with 2021/22 being the baseline year.

Unlike before where the commission used a decentralized system whereby indiscipline cases were being heard at County and Regional office – which saw some cases taking long before being concluded – this time the commission has decided to mentor and coach teachers joining the services using their fellow teachers who have been in service for a while.

A lot of indiscipline cases among teachers results to insubordination whereby teachers being reported for not taking duties, missing lessons, alcoholism and drug abuse, absenteeism among others. In 2019, a total of 89 teachers were deregistered from the TSC register while last year a total of 71 teachers were deregistered after their disciplinary cases were concluded by the commission.

According to TSC code of conduct and ethics regulations for teachers, a teacher is supposed to ensure that his or her private and public conduct upholds the dignity and integrity of the teaching service.

The code further requires teachers at all times be of good conduct whether or not on official duty and in particular; maintain a neat and decent standard of dressing which befits the dignity and image of the teaching service, ensure that their personal hygiene is not offensive to workmates or those they serve, observe official working hours, be punctual and meet deadlines and not being absent from duty without permission among others. On the other hand, the commission will train a total of 30,000 newly appointed heads of institutions on the programme and which will capture 10,000 heads in each financial year starting 2021/22 which starts in 1st July 2021 up to June 2024. A total of 2000 teachers who have already undergone indiscipline process will also be trained on mentorship and coaching in these financial years, targeting a total of 6,000 teachers under this category.

The programme will be implemented on a cascade model, where by National Trainers (NTs) will trainer Master Trainers (MTs) at regional and County who in turn will train trainers of Trainers (TOTs).

“This approach provides a structured way of engagement where institutions will benefit from skills of an experienced teacher/professional with unique and exemplary performance within the immediate environment/county/ region,” reads the TSC policy document on mentorship and coaching in part.

According to the Basic Statistical Booklet of 2019 released by the Ministry of Education, there are 218,760 teachers in Public Primary schools as per 2019 of which 104,684 are male while 114,076 are female, while in public Secondary schools, there were a total of 105,234 teachers of which 62,110

are male and 43,124 females.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has been de-registered as a teacher.

This is after a Nairobi Employment and Labor Relations Court dismissed his attempt to save his position as a teacher within the corridors of justice after a similar attempt in 2019 flopped.

The decision by Justice Stephen Radido is set to be a huge blow for a man who has been at the helm of the teacher’s union since 2016 and had already started plans for Knut national elections.

It however remains to be seen whether the latest judgement is the final nail in Sossion’s bittersweet career after years of a frosty relationship between the Knut and Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

In his judgement, Justice Radido maintained that the decision by TSC to deregister him as a teacher is distinct from the termination of his services as a teacher.

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“Hon Sossion did not directly challenge the process leading to the removal of his name from the register of teachers,” said Justice Radido.

In his suit, Sossion had challenged the decision by TSC to remove him from the teacher’s register through a gazette notice.

The Knut Secretary-General had also been hoping that the court would declare the regulations his employer relied on to deregister him as null and void and inconsistent with Article 38 of the constitution.

He had sought nine orders including an order prohibiting TSC from removing him from the register of teachers as well as an order quashing the gazette notice that removed him from the register.

The Knut secretary-general had claimed that the decision by the teacher’s employer was in bad faith and was aimed at killing the education.

During the course of the proceedings, the Knut secretary-general told the court that his rights were violated when TSC decided to remove him from the teacher’s register.

He claimed that the commission was on a mission to kill trade unionism by the decision to remove him from the teacher’s register and had described himself as the thorn in the flesh for a commission out to kill trade unionism.

“The real motive for the action of the Commission was to kill trade unionism in the education sector,” said Sossion.

In its defence, however, the commission said that they issued Sossion with a notice of removal from the register but the Knut boss declined to respond within 90 days.

Nancy Macharia, the TSC Chief Executive Officer told the court through an affidavit that the removal of Sossion from the register was anchored in law, adding that she was not motivated by bad faith.

In his judgment, Justice Radido said that Sossion did not directly challenge the process leading to the removal of his name from the register. The judge also stated that Sossion did not prove allegations of bad faith by the commission.

“The Petitioners did not prove the allegations set out in the Petition…The Petition is found without merit, and it is dismissed,” said Justice Radido.

The decision is a massive blow to a man who has lost successive court cases in his bid to remain relevant to the teaching profession after TSC opted to remove him from the register.

Sossion’s woes with TSC worsened after he was nominated by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party after the elections. His employer TSC served him with a termination letter afterwards.

Last year, Sossion was also dealt a major blow after the Court of Appeal declined to suspend the Teachers Service Commission’s (TSC) termination letter to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general.

Judges Martha Koome, Hannah Okwengu and Jamilla Mohammed said there was no need to suspend the TSC letter as Sossion can either be reinstated or compensated whenever the substantive case is determined.

The Knut secretary-general complained that the Nancy Macharia-led commission issued him with the termination letter despite knowing that he had challenged the same.

Sossion was employed as teacher in 1993 then elected Executive Secretary of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bomet branch.

In March 2016, he was elected the Secretary-General of KNUT, then a year later, after the 2017 general elections, was nominated to Nationa Assembly by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to represent the interest of workers.

Then in December 2017, TSC issued a Notice of his Termination from the Teaching Service.