How KNEC’s TECBA e-Assessment Will Examine Kenya’s First DTE PP&P Teacher Trainees
The first cohort of the Diploma in Teacher Education, Pre-Primary and Primary (DTE PP&P) is sitting the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) summative assessment this week.
The papers began on 27 October 2026 and run to 5 November. They follow a rehearsal on 26 October, which gave colleges and candidates a chance to test arrangements before the real papers began.
The examination is the visible end of a policy change that began earlier this year.
How the programme came about
On 19 January 2026, the then Principal Secretary for Education, Julius K. Bitok, issued a circular (Ref. QAS/ECDE/7/1B/2/193) to County Directors of Education and Sub County Directors of Education.
Its subject was the training of teachers for the Diploma in Early Childhood Education. The circular announced that the Diploma in Early Childhood Teacher Education (DECTE) had been merged with the Diploma in Primary Teacher Education (DPTE) and re-designated as the Diploma in Teacher Education, Pre-Primary and Primary (DTE PP&P).
It added that the Upgrade Diploma in Early Childhood Teacher Education (UDECTE) had been discontinued.
The directives were firm and took effect immediately:
- KNEC was directed not to register any candidates for assessment under the DECTE or UDECTE programmes.
- No admissions were to be undertaken for DECTE.
- No registration or approval of colleges would be processed for either DECTE or UDECTE.
- All TTCs were to offer the DTE PP&P programme on a full-time basis, while school-based training remained suspended until further notice.
- All concerned offices were told to ensure strict compliance.
The merger followed recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER), chaired by the late Prof. Raphael Munavu.
The working party’s work shaped much of the thinking behind the restructuring of Kenya’s education system, and teacher training reform is one of its practical outcomes.
Why merge the two diplomas?
Early childhood educators went through DECTE, while primary teachers pursued DPTE, even though the learners they serve are at neighbouring stages of the same developmental journey.
The competency-based curriculum treats learning as a continuum. A child who leaves PP2 enters Grade 1 carrying skills, habits and gaps from the earlier stage, and teachers on both sides benefit from understanding the whole path.
DTE PP&P responds to this by preparing one teacher to work across the range from PP1 and PP2 through Grades 1 to 6. The programme runs for three years.
Admission requires a minimum KCSE mean grade of C (plain), a standard intended to keep entry consistent across the colleges that offer it.
How the assessment works
According to the KNEC timetable (KNEC/TD/TA/DTE PP&P/TT/26/07), the summative assessment is delivered through the TECBA e-assessment system.
Trainees log in to the KNEC portal at tecba.knec.ac.ke using their assessment numbers and a provided password. Only identified trainees can access it.
Several rules apply:
Fixed time. The time allowed is shown against each paper and no extra time is allowed. If the time on the question paper differs from the timetable, the question paper is correct. Trainees with visual impairment get no extra time beyond what their papers state.
Reading time is included. Time for reading through questions or studying maps counts within the total, unless a paper’s special instructions say otherwise.
Devices. Trainees must make sure their gadget is charged and has internet connectivity.
Arrival. Trainees should be seated 30 minutes before the paper begins. Latecomers must give the Supervisor a satisfactory reason, and only in exceptional circumstances will anyone more than half an hour late be allowed to sit.
The timetable, day by day
Most days follow the same pattern: a 3-hour first session from 8.00 am to 11.00 am, a 2-hour break, and a 3-hour second session from 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm.
Course work and rehearsal
- Paper 9625, Art and Craft Coursework, is assessed over the three years from 2024 to 2026. Colleges must upload final scores to the Teacher Education Portal by 9 October 2026.
- Monday 26 October is the rehearsal day.
Tuesday 27 October
- 8.00 am: Mathematics (9814), 3 hours. Braille candidates sit Mathematics for 3½ hours, finishing at 11.30 am, with a shorter 1½-hour break.
- 1.00 pm: Educational Assessment, Management, ICT and Research Skills (9822).
Wednesday 28 October
- 8.00 am: English (9811)
- 1.00 pm: Home Science (9816)
Thursday 29 October
- 8.00 am: Kiswahili (9812) and Kenya Sign Language (9813), running in parallel
- 1.00 pm: Child Development, Psychology and Inclusive Education (9823)
Friday 30 October
- 8.00 am: Art and Craft (9825)
- 1.00 pm: Curriculum Studies and Foundations of Education (9824)
Monday 2 November
- 8.00 am: Agriculture (9817)
- 1.00 pm: Social Studies (9818)
Tuesday 3 November
- 8.00 am: Science & Technology (9827)
- 1.00 pm: Indigenous Languages (9828)
Wednesday 4 November
- 8.00 am: Physical and Health Education (9815)
- 1.00 pm: Christian Religious Education (9819) and Islamic Religious Education (9820), in parallel
Thursday 5 November
- 8.00 am: Music (9826)
- 1.00 pm: French (9829), German (9830) and Arabic (9832), in parallel
The timetable lists 23 items in all. The last, Practicum (9833/2), is separate from the written papers: it runs for seven months, from January to July 2027.
Rules and penalties
The timetable also sets out conduct rules that trainers are expected to drill into candidates.
- Candidates may not leave the room before the period ends without the Supervisor’s permission.
- No communication of any kind with other trainees or outsiders is allowed, and answers must not be exposed to others.
- No books, notes or unauthorised materials may be in the room or nearby. Only KNEC-printed mathematical tables and the specified non-programmable calculator are permitted.
- Rough work stays on the desk for the Supervisor to collect and destroy. No writing paper, used or unused, may leave the room.
- Cell phones are prohibited, and a trainee found with one will have their results cancelled.
The penalties are severe. A trainee who commits an irregularity in any paper has results for the whole subject cancelled and is awarded result “Y” overall.
Where irregularities are widespread at a centre, the whole centre’s results can be cancelled.
Under the KNEC Act No. 29 of 2012, leaking examination material carries up to ten years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to KSh 2 million, or both.
Damaging material carries up to five years or a fine of up to KSh 5 million, or both. Impersonating a registered candidate carries up to two years or a fine of up to KSh 2 million, plus a three-year ban from KNEC examinations.
What it means
For this first cohort, the sitting marks the end of a transition that began with a January circular and now plays out in exam rooms across the country.
Whatever the logistics of a fully online assessment, the larger test is whether one teacher trained to serve learners from PP1 to Grade 6 can deliver the continuity the competency-based curriculum promises.
