- Diploma in Education graduates under Teachers Inclusive want Parliament to create a lawful transition framework for those unable to get TSC registration after regulatory changes.
- The dispute centres on Legal Notice No. 50 of 2016 and current TSC requirements of C+ mean grade and C+ in teaching subjects.
- The group wants the Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training Bill, 2026 to include transitional provisions with verification, assessment and upgrading where needed.
A group of Diploma in Education graduates who say they are unable to secure teacher registration because of changes in regulatory requirements has appealed to Parliament to establish a lawful transition framework for affected educators.
The graduates, under the Teachers Inclusive initiative, say they enrolled in recognised teacher-training programmes, completed their coursework and teaching practice and graduated at different times before and after the introduction of new registration requirements.
Their representative, George Mambo, popularly known as the “Teachers’ President” and “Fumigator-In-Chief”, said the affected graduates should not be treated as a single category without examining when and under which regulatory framework they undertook their training.
The appeal comes against the background of Legal Notice No. 50 of 2016, which set academic and professional requirements for registration of teachers. The current TSC requirements for Diploma in Education registration include a minimum KCSE mean grade of C+ and C+ in the two teaching subjects, alongside requirements in English and Mathematics.
TSC also states that a person cannot engage in the teaching service without being registered as a teacher, a requirement that applies to both public and private learning institutions.
Mambo said some graduates completed their diplomas during periods when the regulatory environment was changing and are now caught between their academic qualifications and the requirements for professional registration.
“The question is not whether professional standards matter. They do. The question is how Kenya should lawfully treat educators whose training journeys intersected with changes in the regulatory framework,” he said.
He urged Parliament and TSC to consider a mechanism that would allow individual cases to be verified, rather than leaving qualified graduates without a clear route into the profession.
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The appeal comes as Parliament considers the Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training in Basic Education Bill, 2026, National Assembly Bill No. 52 of 2026. The Bill was published on July 24, 2026 and remains a proposed law.
The Bill seeks to establish a new framework for pre-service teacher education and in-service training, including the establishment of the Kenya Teachers Training College and regulation of teacher-training institutions.
Teachers Inclusive wants the ongoing legislative process to consider transitional provisions for eligible diploma holders whose qualifications can be authenticated.
The group proposes verification of academic records, training institutions, teaching practice and professional preparation, followed where necessary by assessment, upgrading or additional professional requirements.
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Mambo said such an approach would maintain professional standards while addressing the circumstances of graduates who invested years and resources in teacher education.
“We are not asking to teach outside the law. We are asking for a lawful bridge into the profession we trained for,” he said.
The appeal places the issue within the wider debate on how Kenya can balance changing professional standards with the rights and expectations of people who trained under earlier regulatory arrangements.
By Our Reporter
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