Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu has maintained that the recently reviewed entry grades into Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) will not compromise the standards of the kind of teacher required to deliver the primary education curriculum.
“Removal of the cluster requirements does not mean we are lowering the standards of teacher education and training,” said Machogu.
Speaking in Mandera on October 10, 2023, while opening the new Mandera TTC, the CS stated that the incumbent entry requirement of C Plain in KCSE, and a similar score in all cluster subjects, was restrictive and punitive.
Machogu said the government will implement a recommendation by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) that recruitment into TTCs be pegged at C flat without the cluster requirement.
Previously, the grade was raised from C- (minus) to C (plain) for KCSE certificate holders with C (plain) in English or Kiswahili, Mathematics, and any Humanity and a Science.
Justifying the move, he gave the example of Mandera TTC that had attracted only 23 students under the cluster requirement but had now enrolled 668 students following its removal.
It is also apparent that the 33 public TTCs had enrolled some 3,322 students under the clustering but has since increased manifold to 18,670 after its removal.
He said some of the primary school teachers in the 70s and 80s had not attained ‘C’ equivalent yet were excellent teachers.
On exam malpractice, the CS said the government has come up with stringent measures to prevent leakage in the forthcoming KCPE and KCSE examinations.
He said papers will be picked from containers twice a day to minimize contact with examination materials.
Present during the occasion were Mandera County Governor Mohamed Khalif, Senator Ali Roba, Director General Abdi Yusuf, CEO of NACONEK Haroun Yusuf, and local leaders, among others.
By Roy Hezron
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