High Court clears refresher course for teachers

Four universities are free to admit teachers for a mandatory refresher training course after the High Court declined to stop the scheme that requires tutors to be retrained. 

Justice David Nderitu of the Employment and Labour Court declined to halt the roll-out of the programme following a petition from Mr Joseph Karanja, an education consultant.

The refresher course tagged Teacher Professional Development (TPD) will be modular and aimed at boosting tutors’ skills and guiding their promotion.

Hearing by all parties

The judge ruled that due to the weight of the orders sought and its effects, Mr Karanja ought to serve Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and other respondents in the case, for a hearing by all parties.

Kenyatta, Mount Kenya, and Riara universities and the Kenya Education Management Institute were selected to offer the professional courses for teachers.

Mr Karanja sought orders to stop TSC from rolling out the programme, citing lack of public participation as provided under Article 232 of the Constitution.

He added the tutors and other stakeholders in the sector were not engaged in the development of the content of the modules.

Regulation 48 of the TSC code of Regulations 2015 says every teacher is required to undertake the TPD programme, which will determine their promotion, among others.

Five modules

The in-service training lasts five years and teachers will be required to take five modules.

Teachers will also be required to pay Sh6,000 each year for five years to complete the course.

The programme was introduced in 2018 to replace the schemes of service, which guided promotions, but it immediately ran into stiff opposition from the Kenya National Union of Teachers, which insisted that it was TSC’s duty to boost the capacity of its staff at its own cost.

The refresher courses will be a requirement for teachers and will enable them to renew their practising certificate every five years.

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