Teachers Service Commission has agreed to take another look at the issue of low school performance.
Primary school principals have been asked to explain why their students are performing poorly in their schools, based on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results released this year.
The committee also wants to know about the tactics used by classroom teachers to improve their students’ performance in their areas of specialization.
This is due to poor performance on national exams, for which these teachers will be disciplined if they fail.
The commission also wants these educators to explain why they should not be disciplined for their poor performance.
The number of candidates who got over 400 in the KCPE declined to 8091 in 2020/2021, down from 9673 in 2019.
In science and languages, the students performed poorly.
At the same time, the commission has issued yet another warning to school administrators who have not adjusted their fee structures. Mr. Kahi Indimuli, the chairperson of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, distanced himself from the matter, noting that it is the principals’ responsibility.
He went on to say that principals who disobey government directions will bear their cross because they were informed of the situation and should have made the appropriate modifications right away.
The Education Ministry also issued an emergency order to county directors to notify schools that are charging illegal fees. It should be remembered that on the 16th of June 2021, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha revised school fees and issued them to schools.
The commission has sanctioned some teachers for a variety of reasons, including lack of knowledge of the students, failure to perform their duties, and involvement in financial irregularities, among others.
In many cases, the disciplinary procedure for teachers begins with a show-cause letter, which requires a teacher to react appropriately within a certain amount of time.
The commission has been chastised for taking this action to punish instructors.
Among the arguments given by teachers in response to the same question are:
1. A large number of schools are underfunded. Teachers claim that this has an impact on student performance because if students do not have enough books and other learning materials, teachers will have nothing to do.
Teachers have also stated that using tests administered by a third party to assess a teacher’s output is difficult.
2. Teachers also claim that most of these students are affected by external factors such as teenage pregnancy, which has a significant impact on their academic performance.
Others have stated that the playing field is uneven since some schools admit students with high admission conduct while others receives.
Teachers have reacted by stating that if students fail exams as a result of their teachers failing to cover the material due to absenteeism, the teachers will be held accountable.
They went on to say that if this isn’t the case, TSC will be completely unfair in punishing teachers for students’ failure to absorb subjesubjectsth the implementation of TPAD, many teachers will find themselves stuck in job groups since they do not have results to present to TSC panels during interviews.
