Thousands of primary school teachers could soon qualify for deployment to junior secondary schools under a policy change being finalised by the Teachers Service Commission that lowers the entry grade for educators holding secondary-option degrees.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Under the proposed shift, teachers with a bachelor's degree in secondary education who earned at least a C+ in one teaching subject would become eligible for deployment to junior secondary, even if their overall Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education mean grade is a C (plain).

For years, the commission required a KCSE mean grade of C+ and at least a C+ in two teaching subjects. The threshold locked out many P1 teachers who had advanced their studies but remained tied to primary schools because of their original grades.

The change comes as the commission moves to close a wide staffing gap in the junior secondary section, which covers Grades 7, 8 and 9 under the Competency-Based Curriculum.

📌 What You Need to Know

The country requires about 149,350 teachers for those grades, but the available workforce stands at nearly 100,000.

Previously, many of the affected teachers were forced to pursue additional diploma qualifications simply to be considered for a transfer to the secondary section.

The proposed regulations also revise the minimum requirements for registering secondary school teachers. A diploma teacher would qualify with a Diploma Certificate in Education, a KCSE mean grade of C (plain) and at least a C+ in one teaching subject.

For applicants registered as persons with disabilities, the requirement would be a mean grade of C (plain) and a C in one teaching subject.

To formalise the changes, the commission has begun stakeholder consultations on amendments to Regulation 20 of the Code of Regulations for Teachers.

A public participation forum was held on May 14 at the Kenya Institute of Special Education before the proposed amendments were forwarded to Parliament for approval.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke