By Rosemil Oduor
Teachers Service Commission(TSC) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Dr Nancy Macharia sat in a multi-agency team meeting on the 2021 national exams administration of February 18,2022 at Kenya School of Government.
Speaking during the meeting, the CEO affirmed the commission’s commitment to ensure that 2021 KCPE/KCSE exams are administered in a fair and favorable environment which will give an opportunity to all candidates to excel.
Dr. Macharia assured the country that all teachers are fully prepared to play their part to ensure that everything comes together as planned in the entire period of the national examinations.
She added that this year, the commission identified and vetted 242,406 teachers who will be presented to the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to serve as invigilators, supervisors, centre managers and examinersduring the examination process.
‘Only teachers without disciplinary issues have been identified as part of the Commission’s determination to guarantee integrity in examination administration.’ She added.
She revealed that female teachers who will be serving their maternity leave during the exam period will be excluded from the activity to ensure they attend to their infants without disruption.
She further explained that earlier this week, the commission released details to all teachers spelling out the much-improved maternity, paternity, and adoptive leaves for teachers in line with the CORT and the 2021-2025 CBA.
‘The aim is to ensure that all teachers involved in the examinations process give the exercise an undivided attention,’ she said.
Dr. Macharia said that starting Monday,21st February ,2022, TSC will expect all field officers currently on leave to return to their workstations to ensure there are no gaps in service.
‘As a result, we will be cancelling all annual leave and field activities for all our sub-county, county, and regional officers during the examination period. We expect our officers to join hands with other multi-agency sector players in conducting final preparations ahead of the examinations.’ She said.
She congratulated all teachers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and added that data from the MoH revealed that the uptake surpassed the 100 per cent mark.
She then urged the teachers to go for the Covid-19 booster jabsthat are being administered in all parts of the country.
She urged all Centre managers to remain vigilant and ensure that all examination officials wear masks and adhere to all other MoH measures while at the examination centres.
‘No examination official should be allowed to enter an examination centre without a mask,’ she pointed out.
She reminded all teachers that the TSC medical scheme is still covering all Covid-19 related cases.
‘Any teacher who tests positive for the virus should always visit any health facility to utilize the health insurance cover.’ she said.
She reminded the public that TSC is preparing all our teachers for the gradual implementation of the CBC.
‘Ahead of the rollout in Grade Six in May 2022 and Junior Secondary in 2023, the Commission has made necessary arrangements to train teachers to ensure smooth implementation. So far, 229,292 teachers have been trained on CBC ahead of Grade Six rollout. Further training will be conducted in April 2022 as part of the deliberate plan to train all teachers.’ She said.
She thanked all teachers for their unwavering support to the smooth running of academic programmes in schools.
She also urged them to step up the gear this year since they are expected to participate in five national examinations.
Dr. Macharia wished all the KCPE and KCSE candidates the very best as they engage in their tail-end preparations for the national examinations due next month.
