TSC should reward schooling teachers
The pursuit for knowledge never stops. Every day is an opportunity for a new learning experience. The ever-changing global environment in this 21st Century calls for the need to learn, and learn some more otherwise one will be left behind with the old mindset.
No wonder every year people keep enrolling in institutions of higher learning for different courses to upgrade skills, their ages notwithstanding. Other than seeking new knowledge, people are going back to school as one of the ways of moving to a higher job group, which also technically means improved pay.
Last week, Nominated MP Wilson Sossion was in the media fighting for teachers as he petitioned the National Assembly to intervene and push for recognition of in-service teachers who acquire higher education qualifications. He petitioned the House over what he termed refusal by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to acknowledge undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate qualifications attained by in-service teachers.
According to Sossion, the House, through the departmental committee on education should inquire into circumstances under which TSC, since 2014 unilaterally declined to recognise diplomas, under-graduate, graduates and post-graduate degrees from recognised universities.
Every employee’s effort to advance knowledge should be appreciated in one way or the other.
And this recognition of higher qualifications should not be for teachers alone but should also extend to all professions in the country. It will not be good for the country to maintain the status quo, where employees are satisfied with the knowledge they acquired, say 10 years ago without taking refresher courses.
Today, we are living in a world where technological advancement is taking its place and the risk of skill mismatch should not be allowed to thrive.
Kenyans do not want to be left behind in the fast-moving world. We need a competitive workforce that can also work comfortably in other parts of the world - should that opportunity arise without feeling intimidated. It is important to build a resilient workforce, which is unshaken by the labour demands. There is a need to renew skills, undoubtedly so.
Education is an investment that should be encouraged for all and while at it, we need to appreciate people who go that extra mile to make the world a better place. Let education be rewarding.
