Institutions that were selected by the Teachers Service Commission are now free to take in teachers for a mandatory refresher training course after the High Court refused to stop the programme that require tutors to be retrained.
Only four institutions were okayed to admit teachers for the professional refresher courses. They include; Kenyatta University, Mount Kenya University, Riara universities and the Kenya Education Management Institute(KEMI).
Justice David Nderitu of the Employment and Labour Court declined to halt the roll-out of the programme following a petition from an education consultant, Joseph Karanja.
The judge ruled that owing 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.
Earlier this week, Mr Karanja moved to court to seek orders to stop TSC from rolling out the programme citing lack of public participation as provided under Article 232 of the Constitution.
The TPD Modules will last for five years after which teachers will be required to renew their professional certificate. These courses will cumulatively be undertaken for 30 years.
It is worth noting that the programmes were introduced in 2018 to replace the schemes of service, which guided promotions, but they 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.
It is increasingly clear that starting this December, teachers will now have to part with KSh6,000 each year to complete the five-year course.