Attorney General Kihara Kariuki on Thursday overturned Education CS Amina Mohamed's directive to lower the entry grade to teachers training colleges.
The AG, in a statement, argued that the mandate to issue such an order belonged to the hiring body which is the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
“In view of the foregoing analysis, the Commission is by dint of the constitution, the state organ with the constitutional power and mandate to set the minimum qualifications for persons entering the teaching service.
“This power is encapsulated in the commission’s duty to review the standards of education and training for persons entering the teaching service.
"There is no law that vests the cabinet secretary or KNQA with the power to set such standards and were it to be there, it would be unconstitutional and therefore and therefore null and void to the extent of its unconstitutionality,” read a statement from the AG.
She explained that the order would boost the number of teachers enrolled from marginalised regions playing a crucial role in improving the quality in said regions.
“We need to give everybody a chance. A student in Mandera and other parts of northern Kenya cannot be compared with someone from Mang’u High School even if they have scored a D,”
“We are still struggling with the teacher-to-student ratio, currently the ministry is looking for teachers who can serve as curriculum assistants (untrained teachers) in the northern part of the country,” Mohamed stated in October.
She added that affirmative account was required to bring about equal distribution of resources in the marginalised regions.
In the proposed system, certificate courses would be phased out leaving only diploma programmes for primary school trainee teachers.
Students seeking to study a diploma in education would need a C plain or C- in KCSE as opposed to the current C+ requirement.
