Yes, scrap BEd programme

The Teachers Service Commission has recommended the scrapping of the Bachelor of Education degree programme. Students who wish to pursue a career in teaching will take regular programme in arts or sciences and a one-year post-graduate diploma in education to qualify for registration.

TSC wants the proposal to be implemented from September. The Universities through University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) is up in arms against this decision. Since TSC is the greatest consumer of trained teachers, their voice cannot and should not be ignored. Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha supports the decision. So, who will have the last laugh?

In China, they are using a business model of manufacturing on request. They produce what the customer specifications are. Similarly, our universities should start designing programmes needed by their customers.

More informed teachers

A post-graduate diploma will give teachers a uniform, final coat that will harmonise the classroom practice. Kenya has 68 accredited universities. They train teachers in various fields. Others are trained abroad, which makes teaching in Kenya a collage, an assemblage of different forms.

In the UK and Norway, trainee teachers are inducted into the practical skills necessary for instructing pupils, managing classroom activities, setting homework to consolidate and extend classroom work and providing pupils with a safe learning environment. How, for example, does foreign training of a teacher blend with our curriculum?

An ideal School of Education should have most basic requirements. For example, universities teaching languages should have a language laboratory for practical lessons like pronunciation that should not be taught in theory. We need more informed teachers for our schools. The TSC is right.

Dr Turuthi is the deputy prncipal Flamingo Secondary School. [email protected]