Legislatures set to restore sanity in TSC by cutting on its powers.

0 641

Teachers Service Commission TSC is likely to lose some of its key mandates should the 11th Parliament proceed to implement its plans.

Members of parliament have hinted at a move that will see a possible review of the teachers service commission TSC. Mandates of the Teachers Service Commission are likely to be clipped especially on its regulatory powers.

If the bill sails through successfully in Parliament, TSC stands a chance to lose powers such as to register teachers into the teaching profession. Secondly, TSC will lose its powers to conduct professional development programs. Lastly, it will also lose its mandate to renew licenses especially those of practicing teachers.

With this new development, The National Assembly Committee on Education is keen on separating powers of the teachers service commission TSC, making it mandated to only be an employer and a set up a different entity that will act as the regulator. The teacher regulating agency will thus then be established.

While shading more light on this, Parliamentary education committee made it known that regulator being a public organisation, will be charged with the responsibility of imposing and enforcing necessary requirements for fresh entries in the profession and setting up needed standards for teaching activities.

Should this proposal succeed, former Kenya National Union of Teachers, secretary general Wilson Sossion will win big as he had gone flat in challenging TSC on its excessive powers and double roles during his tenure, TSC being an employer and a regulator.

Sossion, who sits in the Education committee, observes that its imperative to have a regulatory agency to end current conflict of interest witnessed at TSC headquarters. However, critics warn of a legal barrier claiming it might be difficult since TSC draws its regulatory powers from Article 237 of the Constitution.

Should this sail through, the teaching profession outlook will be similar to route and practices in the medical profession whereby the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Council is the regulator while counties are the employers.

This is also the practice in the engineering field and the legal profession where the Engineering Board of Kenya and the Law Society of Kenya are regulators.

More to go from TSC will be mandate to develop the code of conduct for the profession equally taking disciplinary action against those that violate the regulations.

This is coming at a time when teachers are protesting mandatory retraining of TPD enforced on them by TSC as an introduction to professional development late last month. This program was proposed by TSC in 2015 but its implementation delayed by the then secretary general of Knut, Wilson Sossion in his petition to the Parliament. As it stands, TPD is planned to run for 30 years and has six modules each lasting five years. Teachers will meet its financial implications.

 

Leave a comment