KNUT, KUPPET Oppose TSC's Proposal on Teacher Qualifications

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have opposed the proposal by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to scrap the Bachelor of Education Degree (BED).

Speaking to a local daily on Friday, May 28, 2021, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion stated that TSC lacks the mandate to single-handedly make the decision, noting that the commission should have engaged stakeholders in the education sector.

“TSC should have involved KNUT, which is a teachers’ union. The demands by TSC are a violation of the terms and conditions of employment,” Sossion was quoted as saying.

KUPPET chairman Omboko Milemba argued that the high qualification standards set by TSC would lead to a shortage of teachers in the country as students who attain the grades would opt for other professions.

He called upon education stakeholders in the country to hold a meeting in which they will discuss the proposals by TSC.

Milemba recalled that when qualification standards for teaching professionals was increased before, the number of students enrolling to pursue education declined, killing Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) in the country.

He further argued that TSC should maintain its role as an employer and refrain from regulating qualification standards for teachers.

“This framework proposes that a teacher will be required to have a C+ for sciences and B+ for all teaching subjects. That is the kind of candidate who will go for law, sciences and other professions,” Milemba stated.

“This then requires that we have to move quickly in parliament and create a professional body for the teachers of Kenya,”  he added.

Milemba assured that KUPPET would oppose the proposal, and will issue a report within a week of reviewing the TSC framework.

TSC had proposed that education professionals pursue a Bachelor of Arts or Science degree followed by a 1 year post graduate Diploma in Education as part of the plan to introduce the Competent Based Curriculum (CBC) to Kenyan universities.

The proposal was drafted by the TSC Director of Quality and Standards (QAS) Dr. Reuben Nthamburi.

In the new curriculum, students wishing to be teachers will have to attain a minimum grade of C+ and a minimum of B- in three teaching subjects.

"In order to professionalise the teaching service and improve the quality of education, the commission needs to review the entry level grades to the teaching service and advice the government. This will raise the standards of the teaching profession and attract more quality grades," the report read in part.

The report states that students with qualifications in subjects not in the new curriculum will not qualify for registration and employment by TSC regardless of having a post-graduate diploma.