Confusion has hit teacher’s training colleges across the country on which grade to use in admitting new students as the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) pull in different directions on the issue.
A number of private teachers training colleges are already admitting students with grade D as advised by Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) while public teacher’s colleges have only admitted those with grade C as they await further directive from the Ministry of Education.
TSC
However, those being admitted with the lower grade are at risk of losing their money in case TSC emerges the winner in this contest since the trainees will not be able to sit for examinations that is usually administered by Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec). TSC has also hinted that it will not register such teachers with lower qualifications after their graduation insisting that the minimum entry grade is C. The authority in June this year recommended that the minimum admission requirement for a diploma course is grade C minus in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education while that of a certificate course is grade D.
The regulations were gazetted by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed the same month. A meeting called to resolve the issue last week did not take place as TSC commissioners and their Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia were in Naivasha for a meeting with Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).
Real confusion