By Hezron Roy
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Samburu branch has lamented that the current Teachers’ Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) online portal is complex and has thus urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to come up with a simpler alternative.
Speaking during the branch’s first Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Maralal Youth Polytechnic on November 19, 2022, the branch Executive Secretary William Lengoyiap noted that the complexity of the teachers’ online appraisal has reduced them to students at night at a time they are supposed to be attending to family affairs.
“Most of us are married and we need time with our spouses. This TPAD is consuming time meant for our families. We have been reduced to students at night and teachers during the day,” said Lengoyiap.
He added: “I wish we can have a tool that is less time-consuming and give more precedence to the teacher and learner as opposed to the teacher employer orientation.”
However, according to a TSC report on completeness of TPAD among teachers in the third term of 2021 School Calendar which was released early 2022; Samburu County was among the most improved counties in terms of teachers who had completed their appraisal; rising from 55.92 per cent to 84.67 per cent.
Out of 1,781 teachers in the county, only 273 teachers had not completed their TPAD.
Of the 1,508 teachers who did, 1,239 were from Regular Primary Schools, 4 from Special Needs Primary Schools and 538 from Regular Secondary Schools.
The report shows that 32 counties had more than 90 per cent TPAD completeness whle 14 counties had between 80 to 89 per cent completeness rates and only one (Baringo) having below 80 per cent.
The Kuppet branch boss maintained that they will continue fighting for teachers to get a good medical cover and to champion for their members’ security in the region while discharging their duties.
“There is no two way about this, we either work in secure areas or we boycott duties and go to safe areas. The right to life supersedes everything,” he said.
The region has been prone to insecurity with the latest case being a Baragoi High School teacher who was killed in July this year by unknown gunmen in broad daylight raising a lot of concern on teachers’ security in the volatile region.
Lengoyiap noted that the branch will support the government of the day in improving teachers’ welfare and supporting education and sports in the region by conducting an overhaul of the games leadership in the region; visiting more schools in Samburu West; and continuing to represent teachers in various forums and any other stakeholders’ meeting.
“As a union, for the benefit of our teachers ,we will align ourselves with the government of the day to agitate for salary review. We are all having a common thinking of removing this zero shilling CBA and replace it with something else,” said Lengoyiap.
