A requirement for a minimum of C (plain) in all cluster subjects to train as a primary school teacher is causing jitters with a union arguing that thousands of Form Four leavers will be locked out.
The new qualifications are in addition to the minimum overall mean grade of C (plain) in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam or its equivalent to qualify for admission to a teacher training college (TTC).
The Ministry of Education introduced the higher qualifications for those seeking to pursue the new diploma in primary education and early childhood development teacher education.
Prospective trainee teachers will be required to have a C plain in English and Kiswahili, Mathematics, any humanities subject and any sciences subject.
For candidates with disabilities, the new diploma students should have a minimum entry grade of C- (minus) and a C- (minus) in the cluster subjects.
Applications for the diploma programme, which is the first in the country, opened on February 23 and the deadline is March 7.
The three-year programme, which starts in May, has been aligned to the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
However, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has criticised the move to impose a minimum C plain for all cluster subjects.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion said the new requirement will lock out many students who scored an overall C plain grade but have lesser grades in some of the subjects.
“The minimum entry grade of C plain is okay. However, setting the minimum entry grade for all cluster subjects will disadvantage many students,” said Mr Sossion.
“There is no need to set a minimum grade for cluster subjects as these leave out many students who scored an overall minimum grade of C plain in their KCSE,” he added.
Some Form Four candidates with overall mean grade of C plain who spoke to the Daily Nation said they fear they will not get the opportunity to pursue their dream career in teaching.
“I have the entry Grade of C plain but I don’t meet the cluster requirements and that means I do not qualify,” one student said.
In the 2019 KCSE examination, 63,102 candidates scored an overall mean grade of C (plain). Among them, 32,084 were female while 31,018 were male.
Some of these students have been placed in technical and vocational education training centres (Tvets) and others are pursuing diplomas in various universities.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan said trainee teachers will be required to cover the required course work, practicum and pass the assessments by the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) to graduate.
“The duration of the course shall be three years in accordance with the approved curriculum designs,” said Mr Jwan.
But Mr Sossion said students from marginalised regions such as the north eastern counties should be accorded preferential treatment.
He argued that the requirement should have been a C plain in one language and grades for mathematics and science be lowered to at least D+ to favour more candidates.
Mr Sossion also protested the minimum entry grade of C+ for students seeking to pursue a diploma in secondary education in teachers’ colleges.
“Most of students who scored C+ plain have been placed in universities, where will these colleges get these candidates?” Mr Sossion asked.
Over the years, TTCs have been unable to fill their capacities since the minimum entry grade for universities was lowered to a mean grade of C+ (plus)
Before, the colleges were recruiting candidates with a mean grade of up to B-.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akelo Misori, however, said the quality of the teaching profession cannot be watered down by lowering grades.
“The new curriculum requires learners to be taught by intelligent teachers who scored high grades in their KCSE and in their cluster subjects,” said Mr Misori.
He said the primary school teachers should be good performers in all languages, mathematics, humanities and science subjects as they are core subjects in the CBC.
He added that the country cannot have two sets of teachers classified based on the regions they come from as the tutors are free to teach across the country.
“If we have people from north eastern region in other professions such as law, journalism, and accounting and are high performers, why should teachers in those regions be recruited with lower grades?” Mr Misori queried.
On the diploma in secondary education, Mr Misori said teachers should have a minimum entry grade of C+ in their teaching subjects.
“There is no need for affirmative action in north eastern counties. The teaching profession needs quality teachers,” he said.
