The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) now says its ready for the assessment of teacher trainees taking Diploma courses in Special Needs Education (SNE).
Thousands of trainees mostly practicing teachers will be sitting for the mid course SNE Diploma assessment on Wednesday this week.
The assessment will be done both manually and electronically and will determine whether a candidate is fit to proceed to final lap or get referred.
The two year course is set to come to an end in April next year for the candidates where they will sit for final Knec assessment.
Knec is still trying its electronic assessment system for trainee teachers.
Last year the Council ordered trainee teachers to get a high quality laptop for the electronic assessments (e-assessments).
Knec listed the gadget to have the following minimum specifications;
1) Licenced Windows 10 version 22H2 and above;
2) 14-inch screen (minimum resolution 1920×1080);
3) Integrated Webcam;
4) HDD 256gb SSD;
5) Memory 8gb;
6) Core i3 gen 6 and above;
7) Internal Battery that can last for more than 3 hrs
8) IEEE 802.11 Wireless capability (ac,g or n).
Knec ordered principals of the registered Diploma Teacher Training Colleges to ensure availability of stable Internet connectivity and power supply.
KENYA INSTITUTE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION (KISE)
FEES STRUCTURE FOR DIPLOMA IN SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION (2 YEAR COURSE)
| Vote Head (Yr 1) | Session 1 (Yr 1) | Session 2 (Yr 1) | Session 3 (Yr 1) | Sub Total |
| Registration | 3,000 | – | – | 3,000 |
| Tuition | 25,810 | 16,000 | 9,610 | 51,420 |
| Administration | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | 9,600 |
| Sub Total | 32,010 | 19,200 | 12,810 | 64,020 |
| Knec Exam Year 1 | 7,700 | – | – | 7,700 |
| Total for Year 1 | 39,710 | 19,200 | 12,810 | 71,720 |
| Vote Head (Yr 2) | Session 4 (Yr 2) | Session 5 (Yr 2) | Session 6 (Yr 2) | Sub Total |
| Registration | – | – | – | – |
| Tuition | 21,180 | 11,400 | 6,550 | 39,130 |
| Administration | 3,200 | 3,200 | 3,200 | 9,600 |
| Sub Total | 24,380 | 14,600 | 9,750 | 48,730 |
| Knec Exam Year 2 | 10,600 | – | – | 10,600 |
| Total for Year 2 | 34,980 | 14,600 | 9,750 | 59,330 |
| Grand Total | 74,690 | 33,800 | 22,560 | 131,050 |
NOTES
The course is implemented on school based sessions in various training centres across the coutry.
Current centres are Shimo La Tewa High School, Kericho TTC, Eregi TTC, Migori TTC and KISE Min Campus.
To apply for training as a Special Need Education (SNE) teacher on school based programme go to application.kise.ac.ke and place application.
Reports indicate that primary school teachers are flocking to colleges offering various Special Need Education (SNE) courses.
Details show that P1 teachers are enrolling for the SNE courses en masse as they eye promotion after TSC announced severe staffing shortage in special schools and units.
The Diploma courses offered by accredited colleges are; Diploma in SNE in: Autism, Emotional and Behaviour Difficulties, Hearing Impairment, Deafblind, Intellectual Disabilities, Gifted and Talented, Visual Impairment, Physical Disabilities, Learning Disabilities and Inclusive Education.
The Commission announced that special institutions are understaffed and will deploy to the institution practicing teachers with SNE qualifications to support learning.
However only those attending colleges offering Knec approved SNE Diploma courses will be considered for promotion.
For primary school teachers to qualify studying for the course one must be a holder of a Primary Teacher Education (PTE) certificate popularly known as P1 certificate and must have minimum of 2 years teaching experience .
Early January TSC launched third phase deployment of teachers to special schools and units.
The deployments which started with the first phase in September last year targets a total of 3,600 teachers.
TSC revealed that some special schools are seriously understaffed and that it will use part of 18,057 excess teachers working in primary schools to address the menace.
Macharia said TSC will deploy a total of 3,600 teachers drawn from primary and secondary schools to serve in special schools and units.
While appearing before the Cohesion and Equal Opportunities Committee last year, Macharia said the deployments will be done in phases for lack of funds.
The first phase happened in September 2024. The second phase happened in January 2025 and the third deployment phase will happen in June this year.
The Commission is targeting teachers with Diplomas and Degree in Special Needs Education.
“Due to budget constraints, the Commission has developed a phased deployment of teachers to Special needs schools to address the shortage,” Macharia told the Committee led by Hon Adan Haji.
The Committee was also informed that the Special Needs Schools in the country were facing a shortage of 5,362 teachers.
Macharia explained that TSC hired and deployed 1,763 teachers to schools in the month of May 2024.
Primary school teachers with Diplomas in SNE will be posted to serve in primary school special schools and units inline with their areas of specialization.
Teachers details were already captured and sent to TSC Curriculum Support Officers (CSO) for processing of the deployment.
Details collected from the teachers included; Teacher Name and TSC Number, County, Sub County, Zone, Current School, Proposed Special School or Unit, Phone Number, Area of SNE training (HI, VI, MH, AUTISM, CP, DEAF BLIND).
