By Ndalo, GK
Billed as the miracle assessor, the new teacher performance appraisal and development tool (TPAD2) has ignited mixed reactions from its users.
While its author, the TSC, credits it as an effective and professional evaluation instrument for teachers, the tutors view it as a punitive tool designed to victimise them and deny them promotions whenever they fall due.
The TPAD ratings are currently a mandatory requirement for any teacher attending a promotional TSC interview.
In its preamble notes, under article 11.5 ( iii) the TPAD tool clearly states that any teacher who consistently displays poor performance or adverse appraisal ratings may after due process have his/her services terminated.
It further states that disciplinary action is to be taken against any teacher who fails or refuses to complete and submit an appraisal report.
At inception, the TPAD tool was both a manual and online process without strict timelines for date entry.
Teachers were allowed to fill and submit the required data even at the end of the term.
The new TPAD tool, however, requires weekly lesson attendance entries not later than the Friday of that particular week.
After mid night of each Friday, the non-submitted lesson observation data becomes expired and the online system automatically rejects it.
This non submitted data literally implies that the teacher/s concerned did not attend to the timetabled lessons. Consequently, a disciplinary action brews from the employer.
These include, but not limited to salary deductions and or salary stoppage for that particular month.
Henceforth, the new TPAD tool can track daily and hourly lesson attendance in all government schools at all levels of the TSC administration.
A part from the online daily lesson attendance records, a teacher is required to have at least one lesson observation per term.
All the processes leading to the lesson observation and its result / ratings and comments must be submitted online on the teachers TPAD account as soon as the process is over.
In a lesson observation, the teacher also called the appraisee , undertakes lesson delivery in the presence of an observer or appraiser who is any member of the subject department.
The principal appraises the deputy principal while the TSC sub county director of education appraises all school principals under his/her jurisdiction.
Both the appraisee and appraiser rate the lesson delivery on a scale ranging between 1- 5 per major competency area.
The competency areas are five and include lesson introduction, content delivery, teaching methods, learners’ involvement and classroom management.
Evaluation is vital though too much documentation in the wake of teacher shortage has left deputy principals in a limbk whether to attend classes or file the report s
Teaching is a noble job.let it be respected.too much documentation is deemed as punitive thus discouraging and many may drop such a noble job.