The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has in the last four years registered 67, 947 Early Childhood Education teachers as part of its mandate to register all teachers in the country.
In a paper presented during a national Early Childhood Education (ECD) teachers’ conference held in Nakuru, a Quality Assurance Officer (QAO) with TSC, Elijah Gesusu said that counties were expected to draw their ECD teachers from that pool whenever they wished to employ.
Gesusu added that the Commission had already established a Code of Conduct and Ethics for ECD teachers detailing standards that they must adhere to.
He added that TSC was the only body legally empowered to deal with disciplinary issues involving teachers regardless of whether they were publicly or privately employed.
Gesusu said that even though ECD teachers were employed by the County governments, the TSC could still de register any one of them found to have broken the code of conduct and therefore blacklist them from employment as teachers.
He cautioned all teachers against inappropriate behaviours and called on them to exercise high standards of discipline in order to set a good example to their students.
The QAO expressed concern over the poor state of infrastructure in most ECD centres which he said was a major challenge to the provision of quality education and called on county governments to endeavor to improve on them and therefore avail a conducive learning environment.
Gesusu called upon County Governments to monitor the progress and eventual implementation of the schemes of service for Early Childhood Education Teachers to ensure equity across the counties.
He told participants that the Commission was limited in its monitoring of ECD teachers by financial constraints and therefore encouraged those who were yet to register to do so.
He told them that it was to their advantage to get registered as they stood better chances of being employed whenever vacancies were announced.
By Jane Ngugi/Collins Ogutu
