As the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) prepares for next week’s Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) retooling, tensions are rising among Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) and Sub-County Directors, who are the core trainers of trainees. The trainers are frustrated with the persistent delays in reimbursements which have become a norm during TSC training programs.
Sources indicate that this week’s three-day training started slowly in most regions, with notable delays and logistical hiccups in Western, Nyanza, Central, Rift Valley and Eastern. Unlike previous sessions where attendance was strong from day one, some venues had trainers reporting two to three hours late, a sign of low morale.
Confusion and Poor Planning Undermine Training Rollout
Training in some counties was marred by confusion over venues, a problem that exposed gaps in TSC’s planning. For instance, in a Western Kenya county, master trainers traveled 50 kilometers to a venue used during the December 2024 training—only to be turned away by the school’s principal who was not aware the school was selected to host the April training.
The situation points to a broader school reluctance to host TSC training reportedly due to chronic delays in reimbursement that disrupts school operations and budgets.
CsoSNE Training: Chronic Neglect in Transport and Accommodation
In a bid to streamline operations, TSC has reduced the number of Curriculum Support Officers for Special Needs Education (CsoSNE) participating in this month’s training, citing a smaller pool of trainees.
CsoSNEs have always raised concerns of being left out in transport and accommodation facilitation despite participating in regional-level residential training. Many of these officers will travel long distances without the logistical support given to other training categories and will receive uniform reimbursement rates regardless of the situation.
Hope for Change: Cemastea Model Adopted for CsoSNE
In what seems to be a long overdue policy shift, Education News has confirmed that TSC is set to adopt the CEMASTEA (Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa) residential training reimbursement framework for CsoSNE officers.This will address the long-standing issues CsoSNE officers have been carrying transport and accommodation costs during regional training.
“This is a step in the right direction and will boost the morale of curriculum officers who had lost interest in participating due to lack of support,” said a senior trainer.
Reimbursement to Be Done by May
Further, the Commission is working to expedite payments for this April training and aim to release funds by May 2025. TSC has lost critical experts from institutions like CEMASTEA, KICD, KNEC and Ministry of Education who have moved to more organized engagements.
Lack of incentives and poor coordination has greatly undermined TSC training especially when CBC implementation requires consistent support and quality capacity building across the country.
