In her quest to break the strike, Mrs Macharia has also explained the critical points of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in a move seen to set head teachers against union leadership. “In order to strengthen the implementation of PC and TPAD, I have instructed the TSC Director, Quality Assurance and Standards Reuben Nthamburi to urgently convene a meeting with primary and secondary schools leadership to address any emerging issues,” said Macharia. She made the statement at Catholic University of Eastern Africa during a meeting of principals of Catholic sponsored schools. Macharia admitted to issues during the implementation of the appraisal tools. “We have listened to you and are aware there are areas you want addressed in order to strengthen performance contracting and TPAD,” she said. Macharia directed that the meeting with heads takes place within two weeks. “We are fully aware that as heads you are an important cog and a critical change agent in the matrix of quality teaching,” she said. This means that before schools open, TSC will have made a major announcement on the appraisal tools in a bid to break the strike.
Insiders at Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) and Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) revealed that after the meeting, the schools leadership will reject the strike action. “Once the areas of concern to us on appraisals and delocalisation are addressed, we will not have any reason to keep of schools when we open next month,” said a top association leader. Yesterday, Sossion maintained that the teachers’ strike will be on until TSC withdraws the appraisal tools and fresh negotiations started. He also said all the points of dispute must be discussed in the coming meeting called by the employer next week. Defending the appraisal tools, Macharia said heads of schools have reported that PCs and TPAD enable them to focus more on prudent and judicious application of financial and human resources. Macharia also said the heads admitted that supervision has become easier, teacher absenteeism has drastically dropped and that teachers prepare schemes of work, lesson plans and keep vital learner progress records.
