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"id": 297952,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Musila",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Defence",
"speaker": {
"id": 94,
"legal_name": "David Musila",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. On the outset, I would like to say that I support the Bill and equally congratulate the Minister for a job well done. The best thing that ever happened to the teaching profession is making the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) a constitutional body. In this respect, I would like to say that the Parliamentary Committee on the Implementation of the Constitution is the unsung hero in this case. This is because it is that Committee, I recall, in Naivasha that ensured that the TSC was made a constitutional body. These things are important for history because if it were not for that Committee, probably, we would not be talking about the operationalization of the TSC. Let me very briefly touch on issues that have been touched by my colleagues. First, hon. Kosgey has talked about equity and distribution of teachers. The first business that the TSC should do is to ensure that teachers are equitably distributed in this country. Every now and then, we hear that there are some counties which are over-supplied with teachers and yet we know, for a fact, that there are counties without teachers at all. In my constituency, for example, I have secondary schools whose students sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and yet there is only one TSC teacher. This is unacceptable and you cannot expect such a school to perform well and compete with other schools in the country full of teachers. I want the TSC to take a stock of the teachers that they have and publicly tell us where the 240,000 teachers are because there are some areas with more teachers than others and we cannot accept this. On the disciplining of teachers under Clause 34 of the Bill, I just want to say that the suspension of a teacher for a period not exceeding 18 months is too long. If a teacher is suspended for an offence, disciplinary measures should be put in place so that within the shortest time possible – surely it should be no less than six months - a decision as to whether he or she is guilty or not should be taken. However, keeping a teacher up to 18 months and claiming to be investigating something, I think is unfair not only to the teacher but also to the students that he teaches. Therefore, I would like to request the Minister to consider reducing this period to say 12 months at the most because in 18 months, the teacher might become rusty and even if you reinstate him, he may not be able to teach. The same thing concerns promotion of teachers. In the past, it has been known that teachers have not been promoted on merit. Teachers travel from wherever to the TSC and go back with letters of promotion. I think this is unfair, particularly, to teachers who expect to be promoted on merit. So, I want the new TSC to streamline the issue of discipline and that of promotion of teachers so that promotions are done on merit and disciplinary measures are taken expeditiously. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, because I know that the Minister would like this to be finished is the quality of education. I see a grey area here. I would like the Minister to clarify to the nation the role that will be played by the County Education Directors and the TSC Directors in the counties. Unless we are careful, we may end up with duplication of roles and we may not get the results that we want. Therefore, it is very important from the word go that the Ministry of Education spells out the roles of these two directors working in the same place. I know that the quality of education and inspection of schools is left to the Ministry of Education. This is where there is a lot of weakness. These officers have no transport and yet they are supposed to inspect schools so that schools can perform well. However, in most cases, education officers sit in their offices. I plead with my brother, the Minister for Education, to ensure that the officers who are supposed to inspect schools in the counties have the means to travel to schools and inspect them. I know that schools have gone for years without seeing an inspector. So, how do we expect such schools to perform? That is why there is a lot of laxity of teachers because they know that there is nobody who inspects them. Therefore, I emphasize the issue of the two officers. As you go down, the Bill reads that the Ministry of Education shall spell out that there will be no duplication and that every person will know his role. If anything, these officers will only ensure that the quality of education and discipline of teachers is maintained in these areas. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}