Uncertainty swirls over the fate of 300,000 P1 teachers

The fate of more than 300,000 unemployed teachers holding primary certificates, commonly known as P1, is unknown after the government raised the bar for qualification.

In May, teacher training colleges are set to begin diploma-level training tailored for competency based curriculum (CBC)

Going forward, diploma in primary teacher education (DPTE) will be the minimum qualification to teach in primary schools.

Efforts by the Nation to get a comment from the Education ministry on the fate of P1 teachers were unsuccessful as phone calls to Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang and other concerned officials went unanswered.

The last batch of P1 teacher trainees are set to complete training in March, and Teacher Training Colleges have already started recruiting the first cohort of the diploma trainees.

The new group of student teachers for primary schools will go through a three-year programme.

This means the diploma teachers will stand a higher chance of securing employment immediately after graduating as they will not be required to go through the CBC in-service training conducted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in conjunction with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

Diploma qualification

This places the currently unemployed P1 teachers and those graduating in April at a disadvantage, as they will not be able to compete with the diploma trained teachers during interviews.

Diploma qualification will automatically score higher marks than the certificate.

KICD and TSC have been training teachers during holidays on the CBC amid complaints, especially from teacher unions, that the short trainings are inadequate.

So far, 339,743 teachers in primary schools have been trained on CBC.

The new emphasis on the DPTE is meant to ensure that teachers are equipped for CBC right from college.

The government had planned to roll out the new programme in all teacher training colleges in January this year.

However, it was postponed to May after Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the education calendar.

The minimum entry grade for DPTE will be C plain in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination (KCSE) or its equivalent as equated by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec).

“The duration for the diploma training shall be three years, according to the approved curriculum designs,” read the requirements.

The diploma teachers’ trainees will only specialise in three subject areas, in which they must have attained a minimum KCSE grade of C (Plain).

The areas for specialisation have been grouped into four clusters, but teachers will only pick one subject per category for specialty.

Candidates shall specialise from the first year in at least three learning areas preferably from any one of the four clusters.

According to the curriculum designs, Cluster One subjects are Kenya Sign Language, Indigenous Languages, Foreign Languages (German, French, Arabic and Mandarin (Chinese).

Cluster Two subjects are Mathematics, Home Science, Agriculture and Science and Technology, while Cluster Three has Social Studies, Religious Education (CRE, HRE, IRE).

Teachers who choose Cluster Four subjects will specialise in Art and Craft and Music.

Compulsory subjects

All trainees will be required to study English, Kiswahili, Physical and Health Education and Kenya Sign Language for the hearing impaired, which are now mandatory subjects.

They are aimed at building on knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective lesson delivery.

“Those who will be approved to teach in schools will have completed the required hours for coursework and passed the stipulated assessment as directed by Knec,” reads the requirements.

The trainee teachers will also be required to have completed the required hours for the practicum and passed the stipulated assessment.

They will also be required to go on a three-month micro-teaching exercise undertaken as a course and will be a pre-requisite for teaching practice.

Upon completion of the course, the teachers will need to be registered by TSC for them to be allowed to teach in primary schools across the country.

[email protected]