Siaya Governor James Orengo has decried what he described as a lack of teachers’ representatives at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). According to Orengo, this makes it impossible for instructors to champion their rights.
The Governor, also Senior Counsel, insists that TSC as a constitutional body needs to emulate how other commissions operate especially by having at least one member representing their fraternity.
“It is wrong to have a Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in the Constitution but with no representation from the teachers,” said the Siaya Governor
He says this must be done if the commission will serve the interests of those it was forced to look after.
“Teachers should be in the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). In the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), practicing lawyers elect representatives. In the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), Members of Parliament sit in that commission,” charged Orengo
the Governor, who was speaking at the Siaya Institute of Technology, during the Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association (KEPSHA) Nyanza region’s annual general meeting, was also categorical that the representative must be in active service.
“Never give up until there is not a retired teacher, but a teacher in-service sitting in the commission. Otherwise, wataendelea kusema hakuna pesa” he said adding that the teaching fraternity was a powerful force that cannot be ignored.
He challenged teachers to continue fighting for a slot in the TSC, adding that with their numbers and support from Kenyans, they can realize this dream.
Orengo called for the empowerment of teachers as a strategy to lift the rural economy, adding in most cases, the teachers are forced to dig into their pockets to come to the aid of starving learners.