Lamu, Nairobi teachers lead in TPAD appraisals

By Roy Hezron  

Lamu and Nairobi City counties had the highest number of teachers who have successfully created their Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) accounts and submitted them on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) portal by the end of Term 3 2021 school calendar.

TSC status report sent by the Commission’s Director of Quality Assurance and Standards Dr. Reuben Nthamburi to TSC Regional Directors reveals that as at April 12, 2022, the two counties recorded above 99 per cent completion with Lamu County topping the list with 99.36 per cent; Nairobi followed with 99.05 percent.

According to the report, Lamu County had only 9 teachers who did not complete their appraisals while 1,392 teachers fully completed the process, meaning they created and submitted their TPAD successfully within the stipulated deadline.

The county had a total of 1,401 appraisals, with 1,007 coming from regular primary schools, 7 from Special Needs School (SNEs) while 387 were from regular secondary schools.

Nairobi City County had only 68 teachers who did not complete their appraisal process, with 7,116 having their appraisals completed.

The county had a total of 7,184 appraisals, which included 4,010 from regular primary schools, 61 from SNEs and 3,113 from regular secondary schools.

Baringo County was the last of the 47 counties with a completion rate of 79.4 per cent, the Commission attributing this to serious security challenges.

The total number of appraisals from the county was 7,634, which includes 5,376 from regular primary schools, 92 from SNEs and 2,166 from regular secondary schools. There were only 6064 which were complete and 1570 in various stages of compliance.

According to TSC, Samburu County was among the most improved counties, rising from 55.92 per cent in the last term to 84.67 per cent currently.

The county had only 273 teachers who did not complete their TPAD. 1,781 teachers completed their TPAD appraisals, who included 1,239 from regular primary schools, 4 from SNEs and 538 from regular secondary schools. 1508 were complete forms.

The report shows that 32 counties had more than 90 per cent TPAD completeness while 14 others had between 80 to 89 per cent. Only Baringo County had below 80 per cent (see table).

The report presents an overall picture of 93 per cent compliance by the end of Term 3 in April, compared to 87 per cent by the end of Term 2 and 86 per cent by the end of first term.

The Commission confirmed that by the end of third term, 341,760 teachers had completed the forms, which was an increase of 4,917 from the previous term.

However, of concern were 22,607 teachers (6.61 per cent) who did not complete the process by term three and had their appraisals hanging at different stages.

The number included 4,703 teachers who did not complete the forms, 5,829 who submitted them without their supervisor’s clearance while 6,059 teachers had missing signatures.

In the communiqué, Dr. Nthamburi asked the directors to give feedback from their respective counties highlighting reasons for non-compliance, list of teachers who had not been captured in the system and the supporting reasons, table of missing schools and an explanation as to why the appraisers (countersigners) were inconveniencing teachers who had already completed their part in the process.

He also asked the directors to demonstrate how they would ensure 100 per cent compliance in their areas besides giving suggestions on how the online system can be improved.

The TPAD tool was introduced by TSC in 2017 despite it facing opposition from teacher Unions and resistance from the tutors, who complained that it was too wordy and voluminous to consume a lot of teaching time.

A survey conducted from February 22, 2021 to March 5, 2021 by University of Nairobi’s Enterprises and Services (UNES) Limited indicated that most TPAD stakeholders favoured the tool as it made teachers more accountable than before, hence improving the performance of the 300,000 plus workforce in the country’s learning institutions.

The findings showed that 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 Unions said TPAD had improved accountability.

Term 3, 2021 National TPAD Completeness

SOURCE: TSC TPAD Online System 2021