Process Of Interdicting And Disciplining A Teacher, Here’s What Happened Before And After

Teachers who violate the provisions of the Code of Regulations for Teachers and the Teacher Service Commission, TSC, Code of Conduct and Ethics face disciplinary action

The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, is mandated with the responsibility of disciplining teachers. Before a teacher is disciplined, due process must be followed to, indeed, confirm that he/she is culpable.

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The interdiction and disciplinary process of a teacher:

1. Reporting misconduct: Any allegations of misconduct against a teacher are reported to any of the following: the TSC Secretary, the County Director, the head of institution/ head teacher/ Principal, the Board of Management Secretary, or any government law enforcing agency e.g the EACC and Police. The report may be made through writing or verbally
2. Investigating the allegations: Upon receiving the report on the allegations, the TSC carries out investigations; directly or through its agents like the BOM, the Head of the institution, or the County Director.
3. Interdiction process: If the investigations reveal glaring gross misconduct, the TSC or BOM serves the teacher with a letter of interdiction specifying the actual allegations against the teacher.
4. Proceeding for interdiction: The interdicted teacher or head of the institution must clear and leave the educational institution within 48 hours (2 days) upon receiving the letter of interdiction.
5. Salary status during interdiction: An interdicted teacher shall be paid a half salary during the period of interdiction except if the interdiction is due to Chronic absenteeism, desertion of duty, having been jailed or held in legal custody, misappropriation or mismanagement of public funds, fraudulent claims and funds receipt, use of false certificates, Forgery, impersonation, collusion, and immoral behavior.
6. Invitation to appear before a disciplinary panel: An interdicted teacher shall receive official written communication for the hearing of the discipline case at least a month before the date of the hearing. The communication is done through: the teacher’s last known address, the address of the teacher’s next of kin, hand delivery, the last station of work (before interdiction) through the head of an institution, the permanent address provided by the teacher at recruitment, a telephone call to the teacher, an email to the teacher, an SMS to the teacher’s phone number and the TSC’s website.
7. Composition of the Disciplinary Panel: Administration of a disciplinary process shall be at the County offices of the Commission’s headquarters. The panel shall consist of A TSC representative (Chair), 2 directors, and An officer from a division dealing with matters touching on the discipline(EACC, Children’s,)
8. Powers of the disciplinary panel: Administer oaths, invite witnesses, require the teacher to produce identification and professional documents, inform the teacher of the offense committed and allow such a teacher to give a defense, examine witnesses, and allow the teacher to cross-examine witnesses.
9. Determination of a discipline case: TSC shall, within 28 days after the hearing date, inform the teacher of its decision regarding the disciplinary case and give adequate reasons for the decision arrived at.
10. Administering disciplinary action: The TSC, after hearing the disciplinary case, may determine that:

The teacher is not guilty of the offense and shall revoke the interdiction.

A teacher has committed an offense that does not warrant removal from the register and may: warn the teacher in writing, surcharge the teacher, suspend the teacher for a period not exceeding 6 months without pay, retire the teacher in the public interest, dismiss the teacher from the teaching service, refer the teacher for medical evaluation to determine the suitability of the teacher to continue executing teaching services.

A teacher is guilty of the offence and his name be removed from the register.

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