Reports have emerged that the government plans to start paying teachers based on their performance. This is according to an appraisal system for public school teachers which is meant to increase performance, determine promotion and also salaries.
The new system comes in the wake of a biting strike that on Friday saw the closure of all public and private schools in the country.
According to Tuko, an online news channel, the new system will provide for specific yardsticks which each teacher will be required to attain with its trial having taken place in 5, 000 teachers in six selected counties.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has rolled the new system in 500 public schools in the counties of Nyeri, Uasin Gishu, Kwale, Samburu, Kitui and Kisumu.
Under the system, the teachers will be required to demonstrate that they first understand what they are teaching, the tools they use to share knowledge in class and their methods of assessing learning.
They will be expected to regularly produce records of works including lesson plans, notes, teaching aids, books, report forms or results and experiment records and test papers, among others, used during teaching.
Under the system, there are no percentage ratings or ratings based on subjective terms such as ‘good’ or ‘poor’ neither are the ratings based on a 3, 5, 7 numbered-like type scale.
There are only three standards where the teacher is either ‘at standard’, ‘transitioning to standard’ or ‘not at standard’.
The appraisal will also include support programmes as peer support, mentorship, coaching, team teaching, and in-service training for teachers who fall below the required standards.