It is now increasingly clear that teachers employed by the commission will have to undertake a yearly refresher course that will see them cough ksh 6,000.
Ultimate aim of these refresher courses will be to boost the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) roll out as teachers will be equipped with requisite skills.
Hitherto, only four institutions have cut a deal with the teachers’ employer to offer these refresher courses to teachers. They include; Kenyatta University, Riara University, Mount Kenya University and the Kenya Education Management Institute (Kemi).
The courses shall be modular-based training programmes for all practising teachers and will adopt blended mode that means that teachers will learn through online and in-person approach.
According to the contract document seen by this author, classroom teachers will be taken through separate modules from the senior teachers, mostly institutional leaders and senior staff.
Modules for teachers will include;
- Professionalism,
- Pedagogy,
- Competency-Based Curriculum and Assessment,
- Inclusive education practices,
- Comprehensive school health and safety,
- Instructional leadership,
- Financial literacy skills.
On the other hand, the heads of institutions will take up the following modules;
- Professionalism,
- Competency-Based Curriculum and Assessment,
- Leadership in high-quality instruction and assessment,
- Professional learning environment,
- Building a positive inclusive learning environment,
- Comprehensive school health,
- Financial literacy skills.
According to the contract document, institutions offering theses courses will charge an annual training fee of Sh6,000 only per teacher which will be inclusive of all training sessions, assessment, reporting and all other associated costs incurred in carrying out the described service.
Details in the document show that a chapter has been defined as a critical area of knowledge and skills in a module that informs the development of learning units. Each chapter will be taken every year and will cost Sh6,000.
While launching the programme, TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia said the TPD is a life-long learning programme organised in six tiered competency levels where each level takes five years to complete.
Literally, this means that for an entire teaching career, each teacher will be required to take a total of five modules within a period of 30 years, translating to about Sh180,000.
At the end of each module, successful teachers will have their teaching certificates renewed after every five years