A show cause letter is given to a teacher who has a case to answer. Teachers are guided by set of rules and regulation as stipulated in their code of conduct.
Breaching contractual terms will result to a teacher explaining through a letter why a disciplinary action should not be taken against him or her.
A teacher found guilty of minor professional misconduct after serving a show cause may be given a maximum of two administrative warnings and subsequent misconduct will lead to automatic interdiction.
The show cause letter is written by the teacher’s immediate supervisor i.e school head for classroom teachers. Once you receive the letter you must respond in writing defending yourself against the allegations and explaining why further disciplinary action should not be taken against you.
The show cause letter is issued to a teacher by the Head of institution who may initially issue a verbal warning or caution the teacher in writing on minor breaches.
In case of persistent misbehaviour, the teacher may be required to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against him/her.
From the teacher’s response, the head of institution may serve the teacher with a warning or present the case before the agent. In such a scenario, the case goes through the full disciplinary process. See detailed information here; TSC discipline process for teachers; Interdiction, discipline cases and dismissals.
CAUSES OF PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT BY A TSC TEACHER.
A teacher may be forced into committing a professional misconduct. Some of the reasons that may make a teacher commit an offence include:
- Unfulfilled expectations e.g. transfer, promotion, further studies among others.
- Unfair allocation of duties and resources in schools.
- Personal characteristics e.g. alcohol and drug abuse
- Political influences.
- Group dynamics and incitement by fellow teachers and interested groups due to power struggle.
- Over commitment of salary.
- Ineffective supervision and communication by the Administrators/ Managers.
- Sickness
- Laziness
