Over 19000 teacher interns recruited towards the end of last year kicked off in various counties across the country on April 22, with calls for an increase in reimbursement rates by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Most teachers who spoke to Education News decried low rates that do not entirely match the skyrocketing life demands.
“The training venues are very far away this time round. We are compelled to rent lodges to save time,” said Dennis, a teacher intern from Busia County.
It was established that, unlike last year’s retooling, most venues were changed following a decline in some school management’s willingness to host the exercise, citing a prolonged delay in reimbursement for services offered by the commission.
A survey on the first day of the retooling revealed that most centres in the Western region began the exercise earlier than expected. By 9am, the trainees had packed most centres.
In Navakholo, the exercise started early, with the TSC County Director emphasising total attendance by the teachers.
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In the Eastern region, the exercise kicked off smoothly, with Trainer of Trainers (TOTs) pointing out that the training was relatively slow owing to the trainees’ complete newness to competency-based curricula.
In the Kangundo Sub-county, the number of male and female trainees was equal.
In the central region, most training centres were visited by financial institutions, which, according to the trainees, consumed most of the time meant for the training activities.
Also, the trainees complained in some venues about the trainers’ engagement in sustained talks that deviated from the trainer’s content.
Some centres in the Rift Valley region started the exercise late, like the Kilgoris Sub-county, which began at 10:36 am A faulty projector regularly disrupted the exercise in the Ainabkoi Sub-county.
Notably, April’s retooling programme began well in most centres nationwide.
Special Needs Education (SNE) training took place at the county level.
This time, the number of trainees was considerably lower. It was discovered that only age-based trainees from SNE schools, including hearing, visual, and physical schools, were invited.
By Naboth Murunga.
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