Teachers are our second parents. They hold our hands from the first day we are brought to school, taking us as naïve as we are and giving us the basics of education. Sometimes, even whip us when we misbehave.
Our teachers are exceptional, blessed, and caring. That’s why the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) decided to digitalize its services. The reason why TSC decided to go digital was to create efficiency among teachers.
Not long ago, teachers travelled from different parts of the country to visit TSC headquarters in Nairobi just to request a transfer to access a pay slip. Tiresome exercise. That’s not all; the bad news was that the results were not guaranteed.
Hail oh TSC (or is it technology?), such dark experiences have been forgotten. The new TSC system allows teachers to access any service, from pay slips, teacher registrations, job applications, transfers, and many more. Stay Tuned for Latest TSC Updates
Functions of TSC
- Registering new teachers
- Once teachers graduate from colleges and universities, applying for a TSC number is the first step. Without the number, you can’t teach at any school; it works like a license.
- Employing registered teachers
- After successfully registering for the TSC number, the commission hires registered teachers every year. It’s always good to try your luck, even if you’re fresh out of college.
- Assign teachers to their duty stations.
- The commission is tasked with dispatching the employed teachers to different public institutions.
- Transfer and promote teachers.
- The commission transfers teachers according to the demand in public schools. The teachers who are performing are also promoted.
- Take disciplinary actions against teachers.
- When a teacher breaks the commission’s code of conduct, it’s the duty of TSC to discipline the teacher. However, serious cases are escalated to relevant authorities.
- Terminate the employment of teachers.
- The commission terminates the employment of teachers when there are valid reasons to do so.
- Review teaching standards.
- It’s the commission’s work to check whether the teaching standards offered in schools are up to date.
- Review the demand and supply of teachers.
The commission reviews the demand of teachers and transfers them to the affected areas. e.g., in areas with high populations.
- Advising the national government on teaching matters
TSC advises the national government on matters concerning education. After that, the government knows what kind of budget to allocate to the education sector.
Valuable features of the TSC website
- T-PAY
- This feature allows teachers to log in, view, and download their pay slips and P-9 forms. All you need is your TSC number and password to log in to T-Pay. You can create an account if you don’t have one. It’s A, B, C (quite simple)
- A simple process like this seemed like a daunting task before the introduction of T-Pay. Long queues and sad, faceless expressions were the order of the day in TSC offices. After the introduction of the T-Pay portal, the TSC offices are frequently visited by more of its employees than teachers. A good win for teachers.
- T-PAD
- Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) assesses the overall performance of teachers according to the set standards laid out by TSC.
- The main aim of performance appraisal is to improve the teaching standards by evaluating teachers’ overall performance and also promoting professional development.
- Some of the objectives of T-PAD include:
- Providing quality education.
- Giving teachers opportunities to work on their core competencies, which are: performance.
- Analyzing a teacher’s performance and providing professional support for development
- Maintaining up-to-date records of teaching to help in decision making
- Providing fair, consistent, and effective teacher evaluation
- Online Services
The TSC online services allow you to:
- View, apply, and track the process and outcome of your results. You don’t need any papers to apply for jobs posted on the website, and this is a good move because it reduces paperwork.
- Register as a new teacher. To get a TSC number, you have to fulfill their requirements and submit an application. The process takes you less than 40 minutes, and it’s 100 percent online. No more office bustle and hustle.
- Entry/exit returns. In the case of interdiction, suspension, or injunction, head teachers and administrators are entrusted by TSC to fill out and file the returns.
- HRMIS—Teachers
The human resource management information system allows you to apply for a vacancy, leave or transfer online. This option is only available to teachers; employees from other departments of TSC can’t apply for jobs on this portal.
- Pension status
This feature allows teachers to view the list of pension claims that have so far been delivered directly to the treasury.
- Teacher email
The email is from the outlook domain, and every teacher is required to create one. The email will primarily be used to apply for loans and access major TSC portals. So it’s very important to have the outlook email address. (only outlook is accepted).
A Brief History about TSC
TSC was established in 1967, but before its formation, something interesting happened. The current president at that time, Daniel Moi, fought ambitiously for the formation of one body that would house all the teachers.
After the formation of KNUT (Kenya National Union of Teachers) in 1957, a body to cater to the affairs and grievances of teachers became a necessity. All this was brought about by the great disparity in terms of remuneration and employment.
Teachers were majorly employed by local authorities, missionaries, and the central government. The inequalities witnessed by teachers pushed them to form TSC through an act of parliament in July 1967. Since then, teachers have worked happily ever after.
As of 2017, TSC had 758,914 registered teachers, with 300,000 employed directly by TSC. This is a steady rise because there were only 37,000 teachers during its inception in 1967. The TSC secretariat manages affairs with teachers.
As our solidarity with our second parents (teachers), we hope that TSC continues with the wonderful job it’s doing of bringing services to the doorsteps of our teachers. Teachers must be dancing their hearts out due to the convenience and efficiency of services offered by TSC.
Now, for new teachers or for people who would love to join the teaching industry, welcome aboard. You have seen what a wonderful job TSC is doing for registered teachers. Take note: don’t teach at a school or institution if you are not registered with TSC. It’s illegal, and maybe you are not ready to pay the price.
To all teachers, we say thank you. You wouldn’t be reading this piece of an article if not for your persistence in kicking ignorance out of our brains. We are grateful to our dear teachers.