TSC Reports Indicate that High Number of Recorded Disciplinary Cases Involve Male Teachers
TSC Reports Indicate that High Number of Recorded Disciplinary Cases Involve Male Teachers. Once they are involved in disciplinary cases, male teachers are normally barred from the profession by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Data that is frequently provided by the commission and displayed on its website reveals that men make up more than 90% of disciplinary cases that end in deregistration.
A teacher is not allowed to work in any educational setting once they have been struck off the register. Of the 366 teachers from 2017 who were removed off the lists, only four are female.
The TSC uses the 2015 Code of Regulations for Teachers and the 2015 Code of Conduct and Ethics to penalize teachers.
How to discipline teachers is outlined in the two sets of rules.
By the end of June, the commission had received 1,007 instances involving discipline. 140 of these are currently pending at regional offices, while 867 have been heard and resolved since the position was decentralized.
36 male teachers had their registrations canceled in March of this year.
The number of cases heard and decided in 2021 and 2022 totaled 1,128 as opposed to 703 the year before, the lowest amount in five years, possibly as a result of the epidemic-related closures of schools.
Not every educator who faces reprimand is sacked. Those who are found not at fault are either reinstated immediately or after completing their punishment.
When teachers successfully appeal a decision made by the Review Committee, they are reinstated and paid for the time they were not on the payroll.
Members of the National Assembly Education Committee voiced their displeasure with the commission’s disciplinary procedures and said that fired teachers cannot be hired back, even if they are found not guilty of all allegations.
Regardless of what is going on in the criminal justice system, the employer may choose to apply internal disciplinary measures, particularly in cases of sexual misbehavior. Cavin Anyuor, the director of TSC Legal, Labor, and Industrial Relations, believes that this is immoral behavior.
Both the 71 teachers who were removed off the lists in August 2019 and the 73 deregistered teachers from July 2018 were all men.
24 other male teachers had their registrations suspended in May of the same year.
40 men and one woman were recently deregistered as teachers, as were 31 men in December 2020, 43 men and one woman in September 2021, and 44 men and two women in October of the previous year.
The commission’s CEO, Nancy Macharia, revealed to lawmakers that inquiries begin as soon as a complaint is received.
A committee reviews the complaint to determine whether an interdiction is required. The last hearing is for this case.
During their period of interdiction, teachers who are embargoed for desertion are not paid at half their normal rate.
Because it is unknown where they are, they are not compensated. According to Ms. Macharia, there are instances where a disciplinary procedure leads to dismissal and removal from the teacher registry.
A teacher in this situation has two options: file a lawsuit or appeal to the Review Committee. When an order is granted for reinstatement to the register but not to work, the names of such teachers are reinstated in compliance with the direction.
A person whose name has been removed from the teacher registry may request reinstatement after 18 months.
Male teachers face more disciplinary cases than female teachers.
The bulk of male staff sacked for misconduct, according to Kahi Indimuli, chairman of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, involve having sex with pupils and stealing money from the institution.
Allegations of carnal knowledge are serious. Documenting the offense, gathering the necessary evidence, naming the offending teacher, and acting as the prosecution are all highly difficult tasks for the principal. According to Mr. Indimuli, the practice of disciplining frequently has positive effects on the youngster.
Disciplining teachers is one of the responsibilities that some stakeholders in education want moved from the TSC to a separate institution.
They claim that the commission is ineligible to act as both the employer and the regulator of the profession.
Members of the education team for the National Assembly complained that cases were taking too long.
Marakwet West MP Tim Toroitich proposed changing the regulations governing the process.
Many teachers are upset about this. The allegations are not revived, he said, even if they are proved to be true.