Caption: KNUT Deputy Secretary General Hezborne Otieno tells teachers not to sign the performance contracts until further discussions are held. (PHOTO: Rose M/HiviSasa.com)
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has asked teachers not to sign the performance contracts until the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) calls the other education stakeholders to discuss the performance contracts.
Addressing teachers in Kangundo, Machakos County during the voting in of the branch treasurer after the demise of the previous office holder, KNUT Deputy Secretary General Hezborne Otieno said the performance contract was initially a pilot plan which was to be implemented after its effectiveness was realized.
“Why is the TSC making this performance contracting mandatory yet we have not seen the value it’s adding to the education of this country?” Otieno asked.
He also said there were a lot of complains in regards to the signing of the contract key among them being too much paper work where teachers did not get time to teach other than filling papers, as well as the fact that it involves learners in assessing the teachers.
“This is why discipline is deteriorating in Kenyan schools because if you expose these issues to learners they will in turn not respect teachers,” he said.
Otieno also said it was wrong for TSC to make teachers work during the weekends being their free time. He asked the teachers employer to stop infringing on the teachers’ rights and respect their private time.
“You cannot take away teachers time to be with their families ad expect them to perform, this is teachers’ time to be with their family and do their free time,” he said.