KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu has advised teachers to use social media platforms responsibly to avoid infringing on the rights of other citizens but urged the teachers’ employer not to gag them.
Speaking in Bomet, Oyuu took exception with a recent circular said to be from the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) warning teachers against social media misuse, saying it amounted to blanket condemnation of teachers on irresponsible use of social media platforms.
The KNUT Boss noted that social media has become an efficient tool for communication, research, and commerce and a key enabler of personal and national development, where everyone, including teachers and other professionals, uses it, but warned that if used irresponsibly, it could cause irreversible damage to the society and people’s professional standing.
The circular became a subject of debate among teachers and union officials during a Persons with Disability inclusion event at Bomet Green stadium last Saturday, complaining that the circular was tantamount to a gag order against all teachers, which contravened their freedom of expression.
Oyuu called on TSC CEO Everlyne Mitei to consider reviewing the circular, arguing that the directive unfairly threatens the constitutional freedoms of teachers unless it is properly crafted and amended.
“As it is, rogue officials at the TSC can use the directive to victimize and pin down an innocent teacher on personal vendetta rather than breach,” Oyuu noted.
He said that teachers should be held accountable for express misconduct as per the existing code of conduct but not for unstipulated remotely cited cybercrime ills based on blanket restrictions on their constitutional rights harbored in some periodic circular from TSC.
He said that the TSC directive should rather specifically target teachers who breach cybercrime laws and have already been accordingly penalized by courts of law over the matter before facing the TSC axe.
But the said circular that was availed to KNA appears to target errant teachers as opposed to blanket condemnation as claimed by the teachers.
It cites in part “The Teachers Service Commission has observed with concern the prevalence of instances of teachers in the public service engaging in unprofessional behaviour on social media platforms, including cyberbullying, harassment, intimidation, the dissemination of offensive content, and other forms of online misconduct.” The circular further reads that any teacher found to have engaged in cyberbullying or unprofessional conduct on social media shall be subjected to disciplinary measures in accordance with the Teachers Service Commission Act, the Code of Regulations for Teachers, and any other relevant legislation, including administrative or disciplinary sanctions within TSC.
By Erick Ongeri
