Why it’s hard for employers and unions to agree on teacher raises.
Even though teachers have gone back to school, the standards for promoting teachers are still a problem for both the employer and the unions.
The Standard has found that both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) are against the way the boss is promoting teachers.
The unions have been against the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), saying that they have kept many teachers in the same job for years.
The CPG was the subject of a court case between Knut and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). Judge Byram Ongaya of the labor court threw it out after the TSC used it to decide who would get promoted.
Unions didn’t agree with the CPG standards. Instead, they wanted promotions to be based on skills, experience, job openings, and academic and professional credentials.
The TSC just released the Automatic Promotions Policy, which is meant to help teachers move up in their careers and stop them from staying in the same job for too long.
But Omboko Milemba, Chairman of Kuppet, said that automatic promotions might make it harder to learn new skills and move up in your job.
“This move has raised concerns that it could hurt traditional career paths that some teachers value.” But we also need to remember that this policy is meant to give stability and respect to people who work hard at their job, Milemba said.
Concerns were raised by Milemba, who is also the MP for Emuhaya, about what the new strategy would mean for ongoing professional development.
“It worries me that the TSC wants to bring back CPG by changing the law.” It sets up a system where teachers would have to update their licenses every year, just like lawyers and doctors, which could add to the costs, he said.
The Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program, which was started by TSC in September 2021, is expected to change the way teachers do their jobs.
All public school teachers are required by this program to take ongoing refresher courses, which has a big effect on their jobs and professional growth.
The TPD program is an important part of the TSC’s Career Progression Guidelines, which explain how teachers can get promoted.
The CPG says, “Teachers are required to engage in a professional development programme to enhance their career progression as specified in Regulation 48 of the Code of Regulations for Teachers.”
Get the Standard ePaper app to stay informed and in charge! There are six levels of skill in the TPD program, and each one lasts for five years. It is assumed that teachers will finish these modules over the course of their careers.
Teachers must renew their licenses at the end of each level in order to stay in good shape.
If they do not follow the renewal standards, they could lose their teaching certificates.
When the Commission announced the new method, it said that it would change the way teachers work by automatically promoting qualified teachers and raising their pay at the same time.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia said that this effort is meant to boost morale and motivation among teachers, addressing long-standing concerns about teachers’ inability to move up in their careers.
TSC said that under the new policy, teachers will be promoted automatically based on a full evaluation that includes official teaching hours, how well they do in the classroom, and their general level of expertise.
Dr. Macharia said that this method is meant to make sure that the evaluation process is fair and thorough, which will help the field have a culture of excellence.
Collins Oyuu, the secretary general of Knut, said that the CPG was wrong because it had caused a huge backlog of teachers in the country.
“The way to get promoted was easy when we had the Scheme of Service.” The CPG, on the other hand, has kept teachers from moving up. “Your salary will not go up much if you are not an administrator, deputy headteacher, or headteacher,” Oyuu said.
Oyuu says that the Salary and Remuneration Commission’s job ratings led to the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Akello Misori, the secretary general of Kuppet, said that most teachers have quit while still working in the same job group.
Members of Kuppet went on strike for a week, and officials said that the fact that teachers in the same job groups were not getting promoted was a major problem that made things worse.
But Dr. Macharia says that the new strategy of automatic promotions will make it easier for teachers to move up in their careers. Dr. Macharia says that a teacher who starts out in Grade B5 as Primary Teacher II will be immediately promoted to Grade C1 after three years of service.
Why it’s hard for employers and unions to agree on teacher raises.
