A teachers’ union has escalated a feud with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) by burning performance appraisal documents meant for teachers. Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) officials set on fire Teachers Performance and Appraisal Development (TPAD) forms to show their anger over TSC’s failure to promote teachers.
Donkey is tired
Speaking at the Chepkoilel Knut branch annual general meeting, the union’s acting First Vice Chairman, Collins Oyuu, told teachers to reject performance management because they were “trained to teach and are not clerks”. “Teachers have decided that the donkey is tired. Teachers are always in cyber cafes filling the forms instead of teaching. We shall burn all of them across the country until TSC abolishes it,” he said as the forms went up in flames. He was accompanied by Chepkoilel Knut branch Executive Secretary Sammy Bor. Mr Oyuu noted that the policy was introduced solely by TSC without consulting the union. “TSC should withdraw the forms immediately for sanity to prevail,” he added.
Knut is already fighting for TPAD and delocalization of teachers to be halted and promotion of teachers with higher qualifications. Teachers got a boost when President Uhuru ordered for review of delocalization policy saying it hurts teachers families. Knut and TSC are at loggerheads over various issues including teacher appraisal tool.
Speaking at the Chepkoilel Knut branch annual general meeting, the union’s acting First Vice Chairman, Collins Oyuu, told teachers to reject performance management because they were “trained to teach and are not clerks”. “Teachers have decided that the donkey is tired. Teachers are always in cyber cafes filling the forms instead of teaching. We shall burn all of them across the country until TSC abolishes it,” he said as the forms went up in flames. He was accompanied by Chepkoilel Knut branch Executive Secretary Sammy Bor. Mr Oyuu noted that the policy was introduced solely by TSC without consulting the union. “TSC should withdraw the forms immediately for sanity to prevail,” he added.
Oyuu stated that even after TSC reduced the number of pages to two, teachers would not fill them, and urged Knut members countrywide to reject them. The commission requires teachers to keep a record of their work. But Knut claims appraisals are not necessary because no teachers have been promoted since the system was launched.
Boycott directive
“I call upon the teachers to boycott the directive of filling appraisal forms and instead prepare for their lessons through the schemes of work as they have been doing. This thing consumes most of our time,” he said. He claimed TSC had ignored more than 85 letters from Knut on how to improve the education sector since 2015.