TSC’s Quality Assurance functions Scrubbed, MoE takes responsibility! A must Read.
TSC’s Quality Assurance functions Scrubbed, MoE takes responsibility!. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is undergoing considerable restructuring, which may limit its capabilities in managing over 350,000 teachers on its payroll.
If the school reform ideas are implemented, the TSC will no longer be able to serve just as an employer and regulator, according to the Saturday Standard.
TSC is formed as a constitutional Commission under Article 237 (1) of the Constitution, with the primary tasks of registering, recruiting, and employing registered teachers.
The Commission may also assign instructors to any public school or institution, promote, transfer, discipline, or terminate their employment.
This constitutional duty practically provides the TSC sole authority over teachers, with little or no influence from the ministry.
However, according to far-reaching suggestions obtained by the Saturday Standard, the ministry will have a large say in TSC operations and will totally take over some functions.
In a significant break from current practice, TSC will be required to confer with the government regarding teacher recruitment, deployment, and transfer.
The ministry would also be given authority to impose accountability on head teachers and principals who administer government schools, as well as tutors who carry out the education program.
In order to professionalize teaching, a new regulating organization, Kenya Professional Teaching Standards (KePTS), would be established.
These are some of the recommendations mentioned in the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms’ (PWPER) draft report.
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According to the Saturday Standard, these recommendations are still being reviewed and will be refined before the final report is given to the president.
If the final report endorses this, the new body to regulate education will be established within a year.
Insiders in the task force said that these recommendations were influenced by the dissatisfaction that exists in the education industry due to the lack of a clear line between employer and regulator.
It also emerged that there has long been concern about the current situation in which the Ministry of Education has no control over the teachers who administer government-owned schools and also implement education curriculum.
The point of contention, it discovered, is that, while the instructors are TSC employees, they work for the Ministry of Education, which is obliged to supervise and evaluate their curriculum delivery.
Nonetheless, these teachers are assigned, moved, and promoted without consulting the Ministry of Education.
According to task force sources, throughout stakeholder engagements, Kenyans expressed various worries, claiming that the TSC’s exclusive supervision of teachers has resulted in unruliness among some teachers, particularly school heads who are the managers of the schools.
TSC’s Quality Assurance functions Scrubbed, MoE takes responsibility! A must Read.
Now, the Saturday Standard has learned that the education reforms team has proposed far-reaching proposals that could limit TSC powers to human resource responsibilities, some of which it will carry out in close collaboration with the Ministry.
The working party wants headteachers and principals to be answerable to the Ministry, and the TSC to consult the Ministry before making teacher transfers, deployment, and promotion decisions.
The team also wants the Ministry of Education to take over the function of teacher retraining and recommends decoupling the regulator role from TSC in order to professionalize teaching.
TSC may also not have the ultimate word on teacher misconduct, as the team suggests that disciplinary appeals be handled by the Education Appeals Tribunal.
If these suggestions make it into the final report and are approved by Kenyans, TSC’s powers as an employer and regulator will be greatly reduced.
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Headteachers and principals will be subject to the ministry’s authority as a result, a significant change from the former setup in which they were solely accountable to the teacher’s employer.
The draft report criticizes TSC for conducting teacher recruitment and deployment in an exclusive manner, deciding entirely on deploying and redeploying instructors to public schools.
According to insiders, this has hampered the Ministry’s ability to oversee the proper implementation of education policy, standards, and curricula.
The proposed model calls for headteachers and principals to act as agents of the Education Ministry, reporting to the ministry as accounting and authorized officers.
Task force members said that the TSC lacks the authority to regulate financial management at the school, presenting a stumbling block in guaranteeing proper use of monies supplied to schools.
According to the members, this structure has hampered the ministry’s ability to oversee accountability of cash supplied to schools.
“Where there has been a case of mismanagement of funds or resources by a headteacher or principal, the Ministry of Education cannot hold the headteacher accountable, nor is he/she involved in their discipline,” according to the draft report.
While the TSC now has the authority to reprimand instructors, anyone wishing to appeal the employer’s decision must now do so through the Education Appeals Tribunal. TSC currently handles appeals through an ad hoc committee of the commission known as the Teachers Service Review Committee, which hears disciplinary committee appeals.
“The Act should provide that appeals of TSC decisions be made at the Education Appeals Tribunal,” according to the draft report.
If ideas make it to the final report, TSC will be completely stripped of its quality assurance functions.
TSC’s Quality Assurance functions Scrubbed, MoE takes responsibility!
The team proposes that the directorate of quality assurance be reinforced and given the authority to close institutions that violate a set of regulations under the new setup.
The directorate will also have the authority to develop a system of rewards and sanctions, as well as the authority to enforce laws, rules, policies, and guidelines.
While TSC has the responsibility of registering teachers, it may not be the only keeper of teacher records. The draft report proposes stripping the TSC of its authority to be the sole keeper of those documents and recommending that the office of the data commissioner be involved, subject to the Data Protection Act.
The forms team wants the government to be involved, whereas the TSC has been the sole negotiator and procurer of the teacher’s medical insurance.
Another essential job formerly assigned to TSC is the responsibility for conducting career advancement and professional development programs.
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TSC launched Teacher Professional Development modules in 2017, which were widely criticized by the Kenya National Union of Teachers.
The team now wants the Ministry to be in charge of retraining instructors in the new concept.
The government will establish the Kenya School of Teacher Education Management (KeSTEM), a corporate body that would manage and oversee all in-service programs for teachers seeking Continuous Professional Development.
According to task force insiders, this will be completed within two years.
Previously, TSC required all registered teachers to participate in career advancement and professional development programs.
The career advancement rules have become an important factor in teacher promotion.
The TSC’s professional development program, on the other hand, is deemed illegitimate by the team.
“Thus, section 35(2) of the TSC Act is unconstitutional on the basis that Article 237 does not mandate Tsc to conduct any capacity building,” the study states.
The study requests that the ministry assume the function within two years of its approval.
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