This archive report was first published on 29 July 2019.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has proposed that teachers be placed under the direct management of the Ministry of Education, citing duplication of functions and high costs.
The proposal, presented to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce, argues that most of a teacher's day-to-day activities, curriculum implementation, supervision, quality assurance, and standards and assessment fall directly under the State Department of Basic Education.
According to the proposal, placing the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) under the watch of the State Department of Basic Education would greatly assist in addressing duplication of functions and reduce the cost of running the Ministry of Education.
Currently, teachers' shortage in public schools stands at 96,000, and Knut argues that realigning TSC directorates, departments, and sections after the merger with the State Department of Basic Education would further reduce the running costs of the ministry, with a lot of money left to hire more teachers.
Mr. Wilson Sossion, Knut Secretary-General, signed the document, stating that the current constitutional and statutory framework clothes TSC in the garb of independence, making it act with impunity while serving teachers, isolated itself from stakeholders, and taken unilateral decisions without due consultation with other players in the sector.
As such, Knut argues that it is illogical and unrealistic for TSC to duplicate the role of the State Department of Basic Education under the guise of teacher management, more so since the Ministry of Education develops and supervises the implementation of the curriculum, including conducting national assessment.
Mr. Sossion added that the State Department of Basic Education should be given a leeway to conduct quality assurance, review the teaching standards of education, and training of persons entering the teaching service.
Others will be developing, maintaining, and improving appropriate standards of qualification in the teaching profession and investigating allegations of professional misconduct and imposing necessary sanctions.
