TSC: New Minimum KCSE Grades For Teaching Subjects; Latest TSC Recruitment Guidelines
TSC Set To Raise Minimum KCSE Grades For Teacher Trainees’ Teaching Subjects
The only body mandated to alter the Minimum Entry Requirements for all teachers wishing to be employed by the government in Kenya, Teachers Service Commission, TSC is gearing up for major reforms in the education sector.
These reforms in teachers’ minimum grades for teaching subjects- areas of specialization will usher in a new era of professionalism and excellence in the teaching profession.
Details at our disposal now indicate that the Teachers Commission, TSC, is proposing that minimum KCSE grades in teaching subjects, areas of specialization be raised from the current grade of C+ plus to B- minus.
According to the proposal by TSC, teachers who will taking learners theough Junior Secondary School (JSS) And Senior Secondary School (SSS) as outlined in the Competence Based Curriculum, CBC, will have to undertake training in three subjects.
Currently, teachers in secondary schools teach two subjects.
The commission has however proposed that the minimum entry mean grade into colleges and universities will remain to KCSE Mean grade of C+.
At the same time, the teachers’ employer is proposing the scrapping off of the Bachelor of Education Science and Bachelor of Education Arts. The two courses will be replaced with Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts respectively.
These proposals are clearly outlined in the policy document by TSC titled, Framework for Entry in the Teaching Service. Students intending to train as teachers will have to first undertake Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science courses for a period of three years majoring on the key subjects and, thereafter, undertake a Postgraduate Diploma in Education for a period of one year for teaching at junior and senior school and SNE (Special Needs Education.
“All the 8-4-4 and Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) students must undertake first, Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science courses for a period of three years majoring on the key subjects and, thereafter, undertake a Postgraduate Diploma in Education for a period of one year for teaching at junior and senior school and SNE (Special Needs Education),” the document stipulates.
Other recommendations are that the minimum qualification for entry into teaching in Kenya at all levels be a diploma in Education.
The proposals according to the commission are meant to equip educators with enough knowledge and practical experience on teaching.
Backlash
The proposals have already elicited mixed reactions with lecturers and the University Academic Staff Union strongly opposing them.
According to some critics, this could be a way of reducing the ever ballooning wage bill in Kenya as per the recommendations given by the World Bank.