By Robert Nyagah
The government does not seem to be prepared to return induction courses to orient teachers on various teaching and institutions’ management issues despite demands by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) for their reintroduction.
This comes as mismanagement of school and personal financial resources been partly blamed in past induction programmes which the government used to promote managerial and professional skills for the tutors right after employment.
Lack of these forums had also led to increased mental health issues among tutors yet the same are key in promoting mental stability among learners and between one another as they imparted knowledge inside and outside classrooms.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Secretary General Mr. Collins Oyuu says that for some time now, the government lacked any clear structures on teachers’ employment and calendar on when newly hired tutors reported to work.
He attributed mismanagement of funds to abandonment of the induction courses and forums made popular by the government through the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and other stakeholders in the 1980s.
Then, imparting of financial and personnel managerial skills to teachers according to Mr. Oyuu started at the colleges and universities and became strengthened at the entry of teachers in the teaching profession mainly by the then District Education Officers majority who were officers with huge all round managerial skills.
Mr. Oyuu described the decision by the government that newly hired teachers just walk into an appointed school and start to work as intriguing given that some teachers were walking into completely new environments un-oriented, sometimes having stayed for more than 10 years after training.
“Since regular employment of teachers was scrapped most are being employed 10 years or more after finishing their training”, said Mr. Oyuu adding that most of the teachers ended up in new territories to face financial crisis to fall into mental health issues linked to heavy borrowing online, mismanagement of their incomes and pressure to produce better results.
In a report titled “Bring back invaluable induction period for newly hired teachers”, the KNUT boss said some incidents of indiscipline partly blamed for deregistration of teachers eventually affected staffing in schools and the mental health of those behind with heavier workloads.
He said that induction forums done by the DEOs were all inclusive bringing together stakeholders from the education sector, union representatives, schools heads’ association leaders as well as managements of regional based Saccos to orient teachers on the need for saving and wise borrowing.
Oyuu further argues that, “The orientation days were packaged with induction and initiation like programs that helped the newly employed members understand what they were getting into.”
He singled out the most significant part of the training as the one on financial management where all teachers were educated on the culture of saving, borrowing and investing wisely to avoid misuse of personal and public finances.
“The culture taught them the spirit of co-operative movements and the patience required if one wanted to invest profitably”, said the KNUT Secretary General adding that it was these courses which encouraged initiation and growth of regional financial organizations and Saccos as teachers avoided dependence on banks for finances.
Unlike today, teachers then were taught about the importance of joining trade unions and that way they appreciated the role played by Unions and gains achieved in both salaries and welfare arrangements, says Mr. Oyuu.
Across the entire country, concerns over various mental health issues afflicting teachers have been topical and especially in the wake of the introduction of the CBC whose teaching tutors silently admit has many trial and error areas.
These “trail and err” areas stress many teachers, some who are forced to take extra teaching lessons even amid the confusion brought about by the curriculum.
In Kiambu, many suicide linked death among teachers have been attributed to mental health issues and this forced KUPPET to even start a program with the Ministry of Education to counsel teachers on mental wellness.
Kiambu County KUPPET chairperson Rose Kiiru confirmed that growing incidents of suicide among teachers had prompted her organization to launch centers where mental health issues affecting tutors and teachers mostly resulting to stress and suicide could be tackled.
The Kiambu KUPPET boss said they were first required to break the stigma associated with mental illness because those ailing hesitated to seek attention while some of the sick never realized that they needed intervention by experts.
Ms. Kiiru is quoted by research reports as arguing that mental wellbeing should be incorporated in teachers’ training courses, at employment level and even in other sectors of the society because mental sickness for teachers and learners could be prevented if the necessary interventions are carried out early enough.
One of the most respected mental health experts and Jubilee government adviser on mental health issues in Kenya, psychiatrist Dr. Frank Njenga, had been in the forefront of advocating for concerted efforts in addressing mental health ailments among teachers blamed for increasing cases on suicide in the sector.
But even as experts call for internalizing mental wellness issues in the education system, the government has been training head teachers and principals on how to detect cases of teachers who could be in need of mental health expert attention.
Teachers, according to Dr. Njenga suffer high blood pressure and sugar related illness because their bosses and parents always expect better performances. Teachers, the psychiatrist insists, should frequently check, assess and consult on their mental health and wellbeing.
The burden of the work and high expectations the society expected from teachers against limited resources pushed them to mental illness.
A communications expert and commentator on mental health issues Mr. Ben Oroko argues that teachers needed a lot of professional moral and social support to cope with mental wellbeing issues.
He said that once teachers fail to get any support or induction covering sections of training on how to cope with mental health issues, teaching could in future become increasingly and challenging and hence negatively affect both the teacher and the pupils.
Increasing numbers of teachers affected by mental health, Mr. Oroko says, made reception of training on mental health vital for them and that he added needed teachers to be part of a national program by both governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Greater unity and cooperation was needed by all stakeholders led by the government to ensure the creation of policies and training strategies that identify and help teachers navigate mental health challenges.
