TSC Adopts Multi-Agency Approach on Mandatory Retooling Program for Teachers
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) Report provided critical recommendations for retooling teachers, particularly as the country transitions to a competency-based curriculum (CBC), leaving only five classes under the 8-4-4 system.
PWPER advocates for a one-year mandatory retooling program to ensure CBC compliance for all pre-service training graduates and for a one-year mandatory internship program following pre-service training before registering in the teaching profession, to attract, develop, and retain effective teachers.
TSC has adopted a multi-agency approach to retooling at least 229,000 primary school teachers and 55,125 junior secondary school teachers to ensure the successful implementation of CBC.
This means that the overall number of teachers retooled for CBC equals 82 percent of the entire number of teachers hired, and the Commission continues to run the training program to cover all of them.
Similarly, the Commission has already introduced remote learning as a creative technique for new forms of curriculum implementation, raising awareness among 163,938 teachers.
Mr. Cheruiyot highlighted the importance of emphasizing teachers’ professional expertise, engagement in the teaching service, and good curriculum implementation.
He emphasized that this was crucial because it would enable the development of abilities, skills, values, and attitudes necessary for effective CBC implementation and assessment.
According to Cheruiyot, the dynamic nature of education necessitates that teachers continue to learn beyond pre-service training to build capacity and cope with new trends.
Mr. Cheruiyot pointed out that as the country embraces continuous retooling, there will be a greater impact on both teachers and learners, leading to a boost in the country’s national development.
He emphasized the need to fully embrace technological advancements to ensure effective curriculum delivery, a concept that the CBC highly recognizes.
He stated that Kenya is looking forward to meeting the demands of the twenty-first century, which require inventive human ability, and that revitalizing the teaching profession will assure quality, equity, and relevance at all levels of education.
Mr. Cheruiyot stated that teachers should be well-equipped to deal with shifting trends in teaching and class management while also instilling a tech-friendly approach because technology cannot be separated from education.
He emphasized TSC’s commitment to supporting CEMASTEA’s programs, which aim to provide a solid basis in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and address educational inequities.
Loice Owade, a teacher at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Kisumu County, emphasized the necessity of improving teaching to inspire more students to pursue STEM topics.
She stated that CBC’s nature and structure require junior secondary school students to receive career guidance.
Ms. Owade raised the worry that some pre-learners approach career selection without the benefit of professional knowledge and assistance, instead relying mainly on peer influence or overly ambitious parents.
JSS teachers should receive career guidance training to equip them with the necessary knowledge to inform their students about both educational needs and labor market realities.
Ms. Owade stated that CBC believes that learners will select specific paths that will eventually take them to their desired occupations.
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She observed that the task of determining this heavy choice cannot be left in the hands of unguided learners, nor can it be driven by parents, the majority of whom are uninformed and would only settle for careers they believe would guarantee their children flashy lifestyles and unrealistic financial rewards, their abilities, dislikes, and likes notwithstanding.
Ms. Owade stated that for career advice to be effective, career teachers must be well-equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills.
TSC Adopts Multi-Agency Approach on Mandatory Retooling Program for Teachers
