The government, through education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang’ has moved to revoke the admission of over 3000 teachers training college students who were admitted with a grade of D+.
Kipsang' stated that all colleges had been ordered to dismiss any student that had been admitted after attaining the said grade.
In a letter to the eight Regional Directors of Education, the PS instructed them to ensure all public and private colleges only train students who attained the minimum entry requirement of C plain for certificate courses (P1) and C+ for diploma courses.
“You are hereby directed to bring to the attention of all principals of teachers training colleges both public and private that the entry grade for persons entering the TTC shall remain as prescribed in the legal notice No. 50 of 2016,” read part of the letter.
In 2018, former Education CS Amina Mohamed had lowered the entry-level grades for P1 teachers from a C plain to a D+ but this met resistance from stakeholders in the ministry.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) was the major critic of the move stating that it was its legal mandate to determine the training standards.
The Office of the Attorney General supported the TSC, which later moved to court, but the Office of the President brokered a deal that led to the parties agreeing to withdraw the Legal Notice and, also, for the TSC to withdraw the case.
In April 2019, TSC, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, Kenya National Qualifications Authority and Attorney-General agreed to dismiss the order in a consent signed before Justice Weldon Korir.
The Senate committee on education has come out to demand that the government compensate the students affected as most of them had paid for the courses.
Committee chairman Christopher Langat stated that it was unfair for the government to keep the students in college for two terms and then send them packing.
