Teachers to be registered

The Teacher Service Commission (TSC) has come up with a plan to register all teachers in the country right from primary level to Teacher Training Colleges. The commission has operated without a clear Teacher Registration Policy and no clear database of teachers in the country apart from the records of teachers on the district level where they are normally recruited. The purpose of the plan is to provide public and professional confidence in teachers’ approval process so that it contributes to a quality learning environment and towards enhancing the reputation of the teaching profession. It is underpinned by the principle of enhancing both the quality of teaching and learning and the status of the profession. It aims at ensuring that fully registered teachers are supported with appropriate resources to enable them to maintain full registration and meet the demands of teaching in the general education system of Rwanda. According to the Director of TSC, Emmanuel Muvunyi, the collection of data on teachers countrywide is ongoing and over 70 percent of the work has been completed. “The registration exercise will be followed by the establishment of an electronic National Teachers Registration System (NTRS),” says Muvunyi, adding that various other policies and rules and regulations are being drafted. These include: Terms and Conditions of Service (TACOS) for teachers, National Teacher Code of Conduct (NTCC), National Teacher Professional Standards (NTPS), Teacher Appraisal and Evaluation System (TAES), National Teacher Recruitment (NTR), National Teacher Placement (NTP) and National Teacher Transfer (NTT). Muvunyi further said that a National Teacher Licensing System (NTLS) is being proposed, where teachers will be promoted according to qualification, experience and conduct. The NTLS will be linked to the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) plan, the Code of Conduct and Professional Ethics. Teachers will be expected to rise in terms of status through this objective mechanism. Ends