Why we are celebrating teachers today – TSC

Teachers Service Commission Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia has said teachers deserve to be celebrated for the good work they do in schools. 

She said teachers have done exceedingly well in delivering quality education to learners.

Macharia spoke on Thursday in Nairobi during the 2023 World Teacher's Day celebrations. 

This year's celebration is themed "The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: the global imperative to Reverse the teacher shortage."

 "Teachers have done exceedingly well in Kenya. We are celebrating them because of many reasons," Macharia said. 

Macharia said teachers ought to be celebrated, particularly this year, for successfully restoring the school calendar which had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

She said after the pandemic, the school calendar was constricted and this put pressure on both teachers and learners.

"Today, we celebrate our teachers for soaking all the pressure over the past two years which has enabled us to achieve the normal school calendar in the year 2033," Macharia said. 

She also lauded teachers for being instrumental in transitioning Grade 6 learners to Grade 7 in Junior Secondary School under the Competence Based Curriculum. 

Further, Macharia said teachers were willing to multitask while attending classes and participating in the retooling program to align with CBC. 

"This year, in between the normal duties, over 72,000 teachers have participated in the retooling exercise to ensure they are compliant with the CBC," she said. 

Macharia noted that in alignment with this year's WTD theme on increasing teachers' presence in classes, the Kenya Kwanza government recently employed 56,000 new teachers. 

Additionally, she said teachers ought to be celebrated for they managed to successfully review their 2021-2025 Collective Bargain Agreement with the government. 

"Unlike other sectors, teachers have successfully renegotiated the CBA for higher salaries by up to 9.5 per cent. I wish to congratulate all officers of the respective trade unions as they sat with us to ensure a quick conclusion of the CBA," she said. 

She said teachers should also be celebrated for they are going to undertake the 2023 national examinations. The exams will start at the end of October.

Macharia said TSC is fully committed to ensuring the welfare of teachers as their primary responsibility.

"As one of the scholars, Christopher Pyne said a quality education begins with the best teachers. He went on to say, quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of teachers," she said. 

Macharia said when one sees education in the country being successful, all credit goes to teachers.