By Staff Reporter
Teachers and assessors are expected to go an extra mile to comply with the new Teachers Performance Appraisal and Development tool (TPAD 2).
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) says the new appraisal tool is an effective and professional evaluation instrument for teachers.
It is now a mandatory requirement for any teacher attending a promotional TSC interview.
In its preamble notes, under article 11.5 (iii) the TPAD the 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, whereby teachers were allowed to fill and submit the required data even at the end of the term.
The new TPAD 2 tool, however, requires weekly lesson attendance with 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 hence the danger of facing disciplinary action which include but not limited to salary deductions and or salary stoppage for that particular month.
The new TPAD 2 is meant basically to track daily and hourly lesson attendance in all public 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 or ratings and comments must be submitted online on the teacher’s TPAD account as soon as the process is over.
In the new TPAD 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 with five competency areas which include lesson introduction, content delivery, teaching methods, learners’ involvement and classroom management.
Generally all teachers in public schools must submit online their overall TPAD ratings for a particular term before schools close which means as teachers give end term evaluation reports cards to learners.
The TSC expects each tutor to equally complete and submit a TPAD ratting card online to evaluate the work done by the teacher for that particular term.
There are to be three overall termly ratings per year whose average score is used to award interview marks when a teacher appears for a TSC promotional interview.
In addition, teachers will be required to take Teacher Professional Development (TPD) courses by enrolling for professional courses in the yet to be established institution by Teachers Service Commission, which will have five professional courses.
Each teacher is required to belong to a professional body that will issue professional certificates and renew practicing licenses annually.
The teachers’ employer says the recent trends in Primary Teacher Education (PTE) revealed teachers’ weaknesses in ineffective teaching strategies, preparation of professional records.
It also showed that they are poor in classroom management, incompetency in handling learners with special needs and weak in assessment and feedback skills.
Citing findings of 2017 PTE examinations report, the TSC says some school heads are not able to analyze books of accounts.
They are also unable to communicate effectively with teachers and parents, build a spirit of shared goals for school improvement and also have poor resource utilization abilities.
The over-arching goal of the Institute will be to enhance the quality of education by providing teachers with a formal structure for professional support.
The institute will operate within the TSC governance structure where it will exist as a directorate and will target all registered teachers and heads of institutions.
It will also enhance professionalism through workshops and conferences and the publication of newsletters, research reports and articles on educational issues.
“Overall, the institute will accredit service providers offering the Teacher Professional Development programmes,” adds the report.
