By Roy Hezron
The most recent Teachers Service Commission (TSC) 2020/2021 TPAD Evaluation Report has revealed that The Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) has improved accountability and reduced absenteeism among teachers.
The study report, whose data collection process took place from February 22, 2021 to March 5, 2021, revealed that a total of 86 per cent of the appraisers, 76 per cent of appraisees, 92 per cent of heads of institutions, 98 per cent of the curriculum officers and 98.9 per cent of Heads of teacher associations stated that TPAD had improved teacher accountability.
The evaluation team which conducted the evaluation study in all the 47 counties divided into ten regions for effective data collection process, engaged the head of institution and either the deputy head of institution or senior teacher or head of department or subject section head (as the appraiser), one teacher, lecturer or trainer (as the appraisee) and one member of BOM.
“When asked whether teacher accountability has improved, most TPAD stakeholders reported that teachers are more accountable during this TPAD era than before,” reads the evaluation report in part.
According to 83.3 per cent of TSC County Directors, TPAD process helps to monitor teachers’ performances and that the teachers are attending all their lessons and keeping time.
The report further revealed that 99 per cent of heads of institutions and 93 per cent of the appraisers acknowledged that they maintained daily school attendance register for appraises. 71 per cent of heads of institutions reported that they maintained teacher lesson attendance register which is an evidenced act of accountability.
The TPAD online management system is a quality assurance measure that was introduced by the Ministry of Education through the Kenya Primary Education Development (PRIEDE) project. It was rolled out by the Commission in all public primary and secondary schools country wide in 2016 to curb teacher absenteeism and to improve the standards and quality of education in the country.
Since 2016, the Commission has been implementing and monitoring the teaching standards prescribed in the TPAD tool to over 300, 000 teachers in all public schools including those under the PRIEDE Project (the 4,000-school supported by School Improvement Programme-SIP) in all the 47 counties in Kenya.
During the evaluation exercise, the TSC Sub County Directors were supposed to give estimates of the proportion of teachers appraised between the years 2016 to 2019.
Other newly introduced performance management practices include participatory and consultative target setting practice which the Commission states is as a result of TPAD.
Here, the findings of the evaluation revealed that 87.2 per cent of heads of institution, 92.4 per cent of appraisers and 92.6 per cent of appraisees participated in appraisee and appraiser agreement on what the appraisal entails and how it will work; preparation of TPAD calendar of activities, agreed on performance targets and documented them; and discussed performance competency areas.
The Commission also maintained that TPAD has also given teachers opportunities to identify their strengths and areas for further development through participation in appraisal target setting meeting.
According to the evaluation results, most of the heads of institutions participated in the termly appraisal target setting process.
The findings revealed that 87.2 per cent of heads of institution, 92.4 per cent of appraisers and 92.6 per cent of appraisees participated in appraisee and appraiser agreement on what the appraisal entails and how it will work; preparation of TPAD calendar of activities and agreed on performance targets and documented them; and shared about performance competency areas.
The TPAD was one of the major causes of conflict between the teachers’ employer and former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion who at one point called for its withdrawal stating that the exercise had created anxiety among teachers though the employer insisted the quality of education had improved.
In January this year, Sossion wanted the top TSC officials punished for disobeying court orders when he filed a case in the Employment and Labour Relation Court, in a fresh onslaught which was likely to open new legal battles between the two bodies; key among them being appraisals.
