TSC wrong on entry grade to teachers training colleges

A showdown is looming between Kenya National Qualification  Authority (KNQA) and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over the minimum entry grade to Teachers Training Colleges. KNQA kicked off the storm by recommending a review of entry grade from C to D+. In a swift rejoinder, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia has warned those intending to join the colleges with KNQA’S revised grades that they risk being locked out of employment. This push and pull between KNQA and TSC is uncalled for. I will side with KNQA for two reasons. First, the grim picture painted by KCSE performance in the last three years is public knowledge. The predicament facing the teacher colleges is shared by many other institutions of learning.

Universities too, are grappling with the challenge of dwindling numbers of students caused by a sharp decline in number of students who qualified. An analysis of the three years shows that while there was a reduction of students scoring between A and C-, the same period witnessed a sharp increase in those who scored D+ and below. In 2015, 63,977 candidates scored a C plain the requisite grade for admission to TTC. It went down to 44,792 in 2016 before plummeting further to 40,474 in 2017. During the same period, there was a sharp increase in candidates who scored D+ and below. In 2015, 209,715 candidates scored D+ and below, compared to 376,415 in the following year, the figure increased with a whopping 438,447 contending with D+ and below. Yet in the face of these worrying statistics, Macharia still holds that TSC won’t allow those with D+ to become teachers.