Thousands of teacher trainees fail to graduate

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Shock has gripped teacher training colleges after thousands of students pursuing the Diploma in Primary Teacher Education failed to qualify for graduation.

A breakdown of results from 22 teacher training colleges shows that 5,348 candidates were listed as referred out of 13,680 candidates, while 8,332 qualified for graduation.

A referral means a trainee has not met all the requirements for graduation at that time. However, it does not necessarily mean they have permanently failed or been expelled. They may be required to repeat examinations, retake specific units or fulfil other outstanding requirements before qualifying for graduation.

The results paint a worrying picture of performance under the new diploma teacher-training programme, with several colleges recording hundreds of students who failed to make the graduation list.

The most alarming performance was recorded at Mosoriot Teacher Training College (TTC), where 927 of 944 candidates were listed as referred, leaving only 17 qualifying for graduation.

At Kaimosi TTC, 442 of 665 candidates were referred, while St Mark’s Kigari TTC in Embu recorded 541 referrals out of 860 candidates.

Asumbi TTC, whose results are for the DPTE 2023 cohort, had 422 candidates referred out of 750. Thogoto TTC recorded 367 referrals among 755 candidates.

Other colleges also posted significant numbers of referrals. Borabu TTC had 341 out of 627 candidates referred, while Kericho TTC recorded 300 out of 716. Kitui had 263 referrals from 851 candidates, Eregi 256 from 844, Kenyenya 230 from 724 and Kericho West 225 from 434.

Murang’a TTC recorded 210 referrals from 782 candidates, while Meru TTC had 159 from 918.

However, some colleges recorded higher graduation rates, with most trainees qualifying and relatively few being referred.

Moi TTC posted the highest graduation rate, with 499 of its 513 candidates, or 97.3 per cent, qualifying for graduation, while only 14 were referred.

Garissa TTC followed, with 588 of 656 candidates, or 89.6 per cent, qualifying for graduation, while 66 were referred. Kagumo TTC had 350 of 407 candidates, or 86 per cent, qualifying, with 57 referred.

Migori TTC recorded 441 graduates out of 595 candidates, representing 74.1 per cent, while 147 were referred. Murang’a TTC had 572 of 782 candidates, or 73.1 per cent, qualifying for graduation, while 210 were referred.

The results come amid a transformation in teacher education  following the government’s decision to phase out the old Primary Teacher Education programme, commonly known as P1, and make diploma training the minimum qualification for entry into primary teaching.