By Amoto Ndiewo
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) could soon lose some of its clout if the MPs make good their intentions to clip the employer body of its regulatory powers.
The Kenyan parliamentarians have hinted at clipping the wings of the TSC to conduct professional development for teachers, register and renew their licenses.
The National Assembly Committee on education wants this separation of powers so that the TSC remains only as an employer while regulatory powers will be gifted to a yet to be identified body.
During his tumultuous tenure as Secretary General of KNUT, Wilson Sossion ferociously fought the TSC which doubles as the employer and regulator of the noble professionals.
He noted there was need to have an agency to end the oceanic conflict of interest, the TSC swims in.
Though Sossion opted out, of this year’s KNUT elections, as an ODM nominated MP, he sits in the parliamentary education committee which intends to reroute the profession of nobility to follow the path of other professions like medicine and law.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union are the regulators and counties are the employers.
Legal and engineering practices have the Law Society of Kenya and Engineering Board of Kenya as respective regulators.
In order to fast track the proposal the Ministry of Education and parliamentary Education Committee Chaired by Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua will take a two week break for deliberation.
If the proposal becomes effective besides losing powers, to register, teachers, the TSC will further lose her grip to conduct professional development and renew licences and take disciplinary against teachers.
This September, TSC rolled out professional development course that requires teachers to renew their teaching licences after every five years.
Although the idea of teacher retraining in professional development was introduced in 2015, former KNUT secretary Wilson Sossion vehemently opposed it thus forcing a delay.
In addition Sossion, opposed calls for teachers to foot the training bill, arguing the training was illegal because KNUT wasn’t involved in crafting it.
Interesting with the exit of Sossion the TSC introduced teacher development this September.
Under the new policy tutors are required to undertake in-service professional training lasting five years upon which the certificate is subject to renewal.
The professional development is supposed to run for 30 years and teachers are given points as per module.
However, critics of the parliamentary educational committee proposal to chip away the muscles of the TSC’s regulatory powers cite a legal barrier in Article 237 of the constitution.
This article gifts the TSC the powers to register, recruit employ, promote, discipline and regulate standards of education and training of teachers etc.
It remains to be seen how the MPs’ proposal will sail around the article 237 of the constitution.
And in the event it does it will be a big win for Sossion who for time immemorial has been opposing the TSC as an employer and regulator.
