It will soon be mandatory for all teachers in the country to undertake a professional course to remain in the teaching service.

The Teachers Service Commission has introduced a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programme to be undertaken by all teachers on its payroll every five years.

Only teachers who will successfully complete the course will have their certificates renewed, TSC announced.

Commission Secretary Nancy Macharia yesterday said the programme will be offered by Kenyatta University, Mount Kenya University, Riara University and the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI).

The institutions, she stated, were competitively identified as the service providers to implement the programme for all teachers in the country.

“Every teacher registered by the Commission is required to register with one of the accredited service providers to undertake this programme,” she said.

She made the announcement in Nairobi yesterday when she launched the rollout of the professional development programme, a ceremony that was also attended by the three universities’ vice chancellors and the Kenya Education Management Institute director.

Macharia said that professional development programme will remain a life-long learning programme organised in six hierarchical competency levels with each level taking five years to complete.

She said the Commission had identified innovative assessment strategies to be used for the programme, including reflective journals, portfolios and presentations.

“At the end of each module, successful teachers will have their teaching certificates renewed after every five years,” said the TSC boss.

She said the host universities had been taken through strategies that will enable effective implementation of the TPD introductory module.

Universities implementing the programme are expected to ensure that teachers’ learning experiences are linked to classroom practices.

They should also address the gaps identified in the Teacher Performance and Appraisal Development (TPAD) process by individual teachers and prompt them to be reflective and action researchers within the school setup.

The training should also be able to build collaborative engagements among teachers and stakeholders resulting in strong community of practice to enhance learner performance and achievement.

Macharia said the Commission will ensure proper sensitisation to enable teachers to know when and how to register with any of the service providers, mainly through online assets.

“The Commission will continuously monitor the programme to ensure quality delivery and offer support for its effective implementation,” she said.

Learners performance

“I beseech our teachers to embrace the TPD programme as it is certainly going to be a game-changer.

We will engage in a robust communication and awareness campaign to ensure that this programme is well understood and that it ends up benefitting the teacher in line with its objectives.”

She said the launch of professional development programme was another testimony of the commission’s commitment to the attainment of the highest professional standards for teachers in the country.

Macharia said research had shown that the quality of teaching and school leadership were the most important factors in raising the performance of learners.

“Section 42 of Code of Regulation for Teachers on performance standards requires that all teachers undertake teacher professional development programmes so they keep themselves abreast with the emerging trends in the education sector,” she noted.

TSC will conduct continuous assessment of the programme to ensure it remains on the right trajectory, she said.

“As a Commission, we have confidence in your human resource ability to deliver on this task.

I urge you to remain committed to the set timelines and outcomes,” she told the vice chancellors.

Last month, the teachers employer released a survey which called for the need to strengthen the termly Teacher Performance and Appraisal Development  process in order to achieve the set targets.

TSC commissioned the University of Nairobi Enterprises and Services Limited to conduct a survey on progress of the performance and appraisal development, which showed that teachers are now more accountable than before its introduction.

“The interactive and participatory nature in TPAD processes plays a significant role in providing opportunities for teachers and their supervisors to identify their professional strengths and areas of improvement in the teaching and learning process,” the report stated.