New KCSE Qualification Requirement Locks out Many Aspiring Teacher Trainees

The new changes in qualifications for one to train as a primary school teacher has locked out many aspiring teacher trainees.
This is following the abolishment of P1 teacher training colleges that saw the minimum entry to teachers training colleges raised to Diploma.
In the new rule, apart from the minimum KCSE grade of C plain, teacher trainees are required to have scored at least C plain in KCSE subjects and this is the born of contention. This new rule has since locked out many candidates who do not meet the minimum subject threshold grades.
Already the Kenya National Union of Teachers KNUT Secretary general Wilson Sossion has called out on the Ministry of education to review the decision.
“There is no need to set a minimum grade for cluster subjects as these leaves out many students who scored an overall minimum grade of C plain in their KCSE,” Sossion said.
Sossion further argued that the new subject grade requirements for one to be trained for a Diploma in the Teachers Training College (TTC) is impractical.
In addition to the minimum KCSE subject requirement, the ministry of education also announced that all applicants must have a mean grade of C plain except for those with disabilities whose mean grade is a C- (minus).
The subjects listed by the ministry of education includes English, Kiswahili, Mathematics and any humanity and science subjects which must all be a C plain or above.
Needy students on the other hand are required to have a C- (minus) in all the listed cluster subjects.
With only 63,102 candidates who scored C plain in the 2019 KCSE exams, a number of them opted for technical colleges and joined in July last year while a good number were waiting for the enrollment in Diploma teachers training Colleges which is set to commence this March.
READ:Diploma in Primary and EDCE Education Intake, Qualifications and Applications Process
With the current situation, many of the candidates who had hoped to secure admission in Diploma program have been left at a cross road.
Leaders from the marginalized communities have also asked the Ministry of Education to review the qualification requirements on subjects as this will unfairly lock out member of their communities from training as teachers.
They said candidates from their areas are disadvantaged and due to harsh learning environment they face, they cannot compete fairly on the same level with other candidates from various parts of the country.