Primary school teachers to be equipped with IT skills
Caroline Minayo, a Standard One teacher at Butere Primary School, introduces her pupils to the digital world after they received tablets on May 3, 2016. The P1 certificate course for primary school teachers could be phased out and replaced with a diploma programme. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Teacher trainees currently seeking to study the two-year course are required to have obtained a C plain and above in the KCSE examination.
The report, which is set to be ratified at a major Education conference in July, also proposes that teachers be equipped with IT skills.
Report recommends that teachers be retrained regularly to help them keep in touch with global education changes.
The P1 certificate course for primary school teachers could be phased out if the government approves proposals to review the curriculum.
It will be replaced by a diploma course, which will attract the A grade as a qualification in order to put the teaching profession at par with other careers, according to a research report on the needs assessment for curriculum reform.
Teacher trainees currently seeking to undertake the two-year course are required to have obtained a C-plain and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.
The report, set to be ratified at a major education conference in July, also proposes that teachers be equipped with skills in information technology and other appropriate expertise in line with the 21st century.
“The 21st century environment demands a highly flexible labour force and this flexibility is demonstrated in the application of technical and soft skills,” says the report, adding that today’s teachers must possess abilities that make them competitive, pushing them beyond the traditional role of imparting knowledge skills and attitudes.
It recommends that teachers be retrained regularly to help them keep in touch with global education changes.
“There is [a] need for a longer and more rigorous period of teaching practice. Continuous assessment tests marks should contribute to the final grade in teacher education. Exams should be conducted at the end of each year as is done in the universities,” the report says.
“The new skills should be in line with the national development goals and the vision 2030 aim of making Kenya an industrialized country, which can only be achieved through reform in teacher education.”
The report also says that teachers should be taught how to spot and nurture non-academic talents in students.
