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{
    "id": 1478766,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1478766/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tinderet, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Melly",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Commission, who gave me the document that I have. I will skim through the document and, thereafter, hand it over to Hon. Nyenze to go through it. If there are any further clarifications, she will seek them later. The Teachers Service Commission responded as follows to the issues that were raised in the request for statement. That, there is a report on the policy framework when TSC directed P1 teachers to upgrade their courses. This is a policy paper on why the Teachers Service Commission directed P1 teachers to upgrade. With the introduction of the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), it became necessary for P1 teachers to be trained on the new pedagogical skills to enable them to effectively implement the new curriculum and disseminate knowledge to learners. Accordingly, the Commission put in place an elaborate and comprehensive programme for P1 teachers who are employed by the Commission to be retooled on the new pedagogical skills to upgrade them to effectively disseminate the knowledge. The other policy statement is that the Commission is aware that the policy direction by the Ministry of Education was based on the recommendation of the Fatuma Chege's Taskforce on Enhancing Access, Relevance Training, Equity, Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms and Implementation, 2020. The Report of the Presidential Working Party 2023 recommended that the Ministry of Education ensure that all teachers who graduated before 2023 undergo a mandatory one-year retooling and upgrading programme to align with the new curriculum. That upgrading is essential for teachers to acquire proficiency in CBC implementation. That is the policy behind the directive for teachers to upgrade their education. The second question was on the timeline of when the referred teachers will receive certificates for the diploma courses they pursued. Noting the upgrading programme for P1 teachers who are not yet employed by the Commission, the timelines may be provided by the Ministry of Education who coordinated the programme. The providers of the diploma training should explain on the certificates. As I explained earlier, the teaching and training of the teachers took place in the primary teachers training colleges. Further, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has indicated that, that issue is the preserve of the Ministry of Education. As the Chairman of the Committee, I went ahead and asked the Ministry to give us the timelines under which those certificates are supposed to be issued. That is a supplementary question that the Ministry of Education needs to respond to. On the third question, she sought an explanation as to why the Commission is yet to prioritise and consider P1 teachers whom it advised to augment their education for purposes of absorption as Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers. On that question, TSC indicated that in the wake of CBC, it became pertinent for P1 teachers to be re-tooled on the new pedagogical skills so that they could effectively implement the new curriculum. Accordingly, the purpose of re-tooling the P1 teachers was to effectively equip them to better teach CBC at the primary level and not at the JSS level. The P1 teacher is supposed to teach CBC in Grade One to Six, not at the JSS. To this end, the course content of the upgrade in diploma primary education programme is designed specifically for primary education to improve quality teaching in the primary schools. Additionally, the career pathway for teachers teaching at JSS is that of secondary school teacher and is distinct from P1 teacher at the primary school level. Hence, the upgrade was not intended as a pathway for P1 teachers to be absorbed into JSS. The fourth question was on the steps taken by the Commission to ensure that P1 teachers who upgraded their education are absorbed in the rightful job grades. This is a question that is being asked by every teacher who was upgraded, even in my constituency and the country at large. Teachers are concerned that they have been re-tooled and are no longer the P1 certificate teachers because they now have a diploma. TSC has made a statement to that effect. They indicate that the upgrade in diploma primary education programme is meant to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}