Carry Your Own Cross: Havi Tells Teachers on New TSC Directive

LSK President Nelson Havi
Former President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Nelson Havi in his office in Nairobi County.
File

The Law Society of Kenya President, Nelson Havi, has declined to petition the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on the newly issued directive requiring teachers to undergo fresh training and renew their certificates.

In a statement, Havi accused teachers of digging their own graves by kicking out of office former Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Wilson Sossion.

Havi called out the teachers he accused of pressuring him to petition TSC to drop the directives, saying they are to blame for the downfall of the giant union.

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia addressing teachers at Safari Park Hotel on Tuesday, July 13, 2021
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia addressing teachers at Safari Park Hotel on Tuesday, July 13, 2021.
TSC /Twitter

The LSK President noted that Sossion, now a nominated Member of Parliament by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), stood for the teachers' rights but they abandoned him.

“Teachers, you left Wilson Sossion to be fought to exhaustion by the state,” remarked Havi.

“KNUT withdrew all cases against the state when you replaced Sossion with a Secretary of ‘your preferred choice’. Please, stop calling me to challenge the directive by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) that you be trained afresh.”

Havi, who has already moved in court to challenge the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), asked teachers to seek alternative means and persons to wrestle government for them.

According to the new directive by TSC, all the 340,000 teachers in its payroll must undergo fresh training and renew their professional certificates every five years.

Announcing the directives on Wednesday, September 22, TSC Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, said the training will be offered under the Teacher Professional Development Programme. 

The training will be in six modules that will cost Ksh6,000 each, to be paid by the teachers.

According to Macharia, the plan is to ensure that teachers are accorded respect as other high valued careers like doctors while keeping up with the professional trends.

Furthermore, the training will be done by four institutions that have been vetted, certified and contracted by the teachers' employer.

The institutions are Kenyatta University, Riara University, Mount Kenya University, and Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI).

File image of Kenyatta University
File image of Kenyatta University
Media House Credit