Parliament is considering a new law that could significantly change how teachers are prepared before entering the classroom and how they continue developing their skills throughout their careers.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training Bill, 2026, National Assembly Bill No. 52 of 2026, seeks to establish a legal framework for both pre-service teacher education and in-service training for teachers and education managers.

Under the proposed framework, people seeking registration as teachers would be required to undertake pre-service education in accordance with the Teachers Service Commission Act, linking professional training directly to the process of becoming a registered teacher.

The Bill further provides that pre-service education would be offered in accordance with programmes, curricula and curriculum support materials developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, creating a closer link between what trainee teachers learn in colleges and what they are expected to deliver in schools.

📌 What You Need to Know

The proposed system would also align teacher preparation with the Competency-Based Education approach, with the reforms seeking to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared to deliver a curriculum focused on competencies, practical learning and clearly defined outcomes.

A major institutional change proposed by the Bill is the establishment of the Kenya Teachers Training College , which would be responsible for offering pre-service education, conducting research and advising the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Education.

The proposed college is also intended to provide a more unified structure for teacher training, with the wider reforms seeking greater consistency in areas such as training standards, curricula, assessment and quality assurance across teacher training institutions.

The Bill also addresses the structure of teacher education programmes, including the proposed consolidation of training for pre-primary and primary teachers into a unified Diploma in Teacher Education for Pre-Primary and Primary, a move that could affect how prospective teachers choose their training pathways.

For teachers already in service, the proposed law would establish a framework for continued professional development. In-service training would not only cover classroom teachers but would also extend to education managers and school leaders.

The proposed professional development framework could also have implications for teacher licensing, as the reforms seek to make continuous training a formal part of a teacher's professional career rather than treating qualification as the end of teacher preparation.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke