We must protect independence of TSC

The 1999 Commission of Enquiry into the Education System in Kenya recommended, albeit indirectly, the disbandment of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) by distributing its functions among several directorates of the Ministry of Education.

That was the most serious assault on the TSC since its establishment in 1967. However, the report was shelved without implementation. But 20 years later, Education, Science and Technology Cabinet Secretary George Magoha complained to the National Assembly’s Committee on Education last month that he is the only minister in the region with no power over the management of teachers.

REINCARNATION

This sounds like a reincarnation of the 1999 report. To me, the CS would have done well to elaborate how the current position disadvantages teachers and the country. Might it not be the case that the respective bodies that manage teachers in the region are looking up to Kenya as an example worth emulating?

More importantly, Prof Magoha did not disclose how he would add value to teacher management were he to be vested with powers to control the TSC and how he cannot do it now.

Having worked at the TSC headquarters for well over eight years as the deputy and later chief executive officer, I observed the influence of several ministers on the commission on policy and operational issues that were clearly slanted towards the interests of the ministers or sections of teachers and not the TSC or the totality of the body of teachers. Some of these had a major impact on the TSC.

First, the 1997 salary award to teachers led to a situation where the government realised it was unsustainable only the following year. It ordered a headcount of teachers in 1999 with the hope that many ghost teachers would be flushed out. But the result was disappointing.

And then, an idea was floated that there were more teachers than were required, based on a teacher-to-pupil ratio of 1:30 and 1:40 at the secondary and primary school levels, respectively.

RETRENCHMENT

This led to a decision communicated through the 1999/2000 Budget speech that slightly over 66,000 teachers needed to be retrenched over three financial years.

It is through the efforts of the TSC and a consultant, Dr Ian Halliday, from Scotland, that the commission was able to prove otherwise, citing internationally acceptable staffing norms, and the retrenchment was dropped.

As a trade-off, recruitment was halted for two years and mass transfers of teachers from ‘overstaffed’ to understaffed districts done.

The headcount and the intended retrenchment are, in my view, examples of externally driven solutions to a teacher management challenge without the initial input of the TSC. They were Jogoo House-driven or -supported initiatives.

Secondly, there used to be an arrangement that teachers could be promoted on merit by the Director of Education after being assessed by inspectors of schools.

Over time, this became an avenue of corruption. In some cases, teachers facing disciplinary proceedings at the TSC being promoted. This had devastating effects on the morale of upright teachers.

SEEK FAVOURS

Thirdly, it was common for teachers and their kin to seek favours from the ministers, who would, in turn, instruct the TSC to grant them, often against the Code of Regulations for Teachers. That would disadvantage the teachers who did not have that privilege and fuel the perception that regulations were being circumvented at their behest.

Fourthly, and probably most importantly, before the current independence of TSC was put in place, the commissioners were appointed by the minister. This had major disadvantages. One, some of the appointees were not qualified to hold the positions but there was no vetting. Since 2012, the National Assembly’s education committee or the House itself can question or even reject a nominee for the position of commissioner.

Secondly, commissioners owed their allegiance to the minister and would occasionally wish to do him favours against the provision of the code of regulations.

To guard against such malpractices, TSC’s independence should be protected. One would expect the teachers, through their unions and associations, to take a stand against the proposal by the minister to take control of their management.

The legal status of TSC was arrived at after many years of negotiations by generations of education stakeholders. It is in everyone’s interest to protect its strong structures, which have been developed over more than half a century, from being crushed through egoistic adventures.

Mr Sogomo is a former secretary of TSC. [email protected]