With the acute decline in the number of students enrolling to Teacher Traning Colleges in the last two years,the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) has lowered minimum qualifications for students joining TTCs to pursue diploma and certificate courses.
According to KNQA Director-General, Dr Juma Mukhwana, Certificate courses will be phased out next year, leaving only diploma programs for primary school trainee teachers.
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“This is in line with the Kenya National Qualifications Framework, which has been widely discussed and adopted by stakeholders,” Said Mukhwana.
With the new rules, students seeking to study for diploma in education will need a C plain or C- in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), down from the previous C+.
Meanwhile, those seeking a certificate in education (popularly known as P1), will need a D+, down from a C plain.
“These changes will ensure the sustainability of teacher training in the country, which is under threat from reforms being undertaken in the technical vocational education training (TVET) sector,” Dr Mukhwana said.
He noted that students seeking direct entry to universities will still be required to have attained a mean grade of C+ in KCSE.
The former Education Cs Amb.Amina Mohammed raised concern over the low number of students applying to join teacher training colleges.
“We have to address this issue, or else we will not get secondary and primary school teachers in future,” she said
The Cs further regretted students’ lack of interest in the profession, yet the government was investing a lot of resources in the sector.
Statistics from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) indicate that there are 295,000 trained teachers who are yet to be absorbed by the government and private sector.
