Teachers refuse to sign perfomance contract

Debate has been raging in education circles about whether or not teachers should sign performance contracts.

Although this activity has become the norm in most government departments, teachers through their strong unions, have vociferously opposed it.

They argue that since they prepare students for national examinations every year, their performance is a public matter.

But performance contracting is the norm in modern industrial or professional set-ups, and its objective is to guarantee productivity.

For teachers, it should come naturally because they ordinarily prepare termly schemes of work, weekly and even daily lesson plans.

Acting Education permanent secretary George Godia was thus spot-on when he asked teachers to join other public servants in signing contracts.

In fact, the proposed Teachers Service Commission Bill 2012 expressly commits teachers to doing so, and therefore, sooner or later, it will have to happen.

The teachers’ unions may resist for now, but they are on the wrong side of history. In the new constitutional order, accountability is paramount and performance contracting is part of it.