The Teachers Service Commission has introduced training for professional development (TPD) for all 218,000 teachers in Kenya (see P2).
Teachers will pay Sh6,000 each year to take six modules and be relicenced every five years.
This positive development will bring teachers into line with lawyers, accountants and other professions. But why should teachers pay? Some primary teachers barely earn Sh20,000 per month after tax.
To make matters worse, only Kenyatta University, Mount Kenya University, Riara University, and Kenya Education Management Institute have been accredited to provide training. Teachers will have to travel and incur accommodation costs.
So why not go digital like Bridge Academies with a standard syllabus? Then teachers won't need to travel.
If TPD is automated and online, the cost to government will be minimal. Teachers will sign in for classes with a password and the system will record their presence. Teachers will answer multiple choice tests with their results recorded online. It will be a safe verifiable system.
Online TPD can be free except for data, which teachers will cover themselves. With online TPD, teachers will improve their skills at minimal cost to the benefit of schools, pupils and government.
Quote of the day: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
Confucius
The Chinese philosopher was born on September 28, 551 BC
