Teachers Service Commission (TSC) was directed to proceed with the rollout of the teachers’ training programme after the court threw out a case challenging its legibility.
Justice David Nderitu of the Employment and Labour Relations Court validated the Teacher Professional Development programme after the petitioner failed to provide evidence proving that it violated some sections of the Constitution.
It’s not enough for a party to make an allegation and expect the court to automatically find it in his favour.
“A party in a case, unless otherwise provided for in law, bears the burden of proof,” the judge stated.
The petitioner had filed a suit accusing TSC of failing to engage education stakeholders during its launch and thus breached procurement laws in appointing institutions tasked with carrying out the training.
He added that TSC had imposed an expensive programme on teachers without prior engagements with relevant stakeholders.
However, TSC defended itself, maintaining that the programme was aimed at reviewing teaching standards in the country. TSC added that the programme was rolled out after getting full approval from stakeholders, contrary to the allegations.
“Besides the fact that the training is founded in the law, it is good in improving the standards of professionalism of teachers, leading to a better quality of education,” TSC stated.
The mandatory training programme was launched on September 22, 2021, with its module expected to form the basis of teachers’ promotions and employment reviews.
Each teacher was expected to pay Ksh6,000 per module valid for five years.
The training was also meant to align with the requirements of the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) which was launched to replace the 8-4-4 system.
However, President William Ruto expressed the need to review the CBC system to address areas that watered down its progress.
The appointment of Ezekiel Machogu as the new Education Cabinet Secretary taking over from George Omore Magoha, signifies the first step in reviewing CBC
