The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has revised the academic qualifications for students pursuing degree in education.
Under the new requirements, the teachers’ employer demands that students pursuing a degree in education have a mean grade of C+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Exam (KCSE).
Additionally, to be given the green light to pursue a degree in Education, student teachers must have a B- in both English and Mathematics and a C+ in the teaching subjects of interest.
Previously candidates needed a minimum grade of C+ as the overall mean grade as well as in the teaching subjects of interest.
Meanwhile, the requirements for a Diploma in Secondary Teacher Education include a Mean grade of C+ in the KCSE exam, D+ in Mathematics, and C in English.
Learners who do not meet these requirements are advised not to enroll for education courses as they will not qualify for a TSC registration number upon graduation.
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Graduates who completed their education degree or diploma under the previous requirements but have not yet obtained a TSC number are strongly advised to apply for it immediately.
The new requirements come at a time when the country is experiencing an acute shortage of teachers. TSC recently advertised 46,000 vacancies for teachers across primary, junior secondary, and secondary schools on permanent and pensionable terms to curb the shortage.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education to respond to questions on the employment of JSC teachers, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia revealed the commission received 314,117 applications against the advertised 46,000 positions highlighting a crisis within the education sector.
The CEO, however, revealed that there is an acute shortage of science teachers in the country as most teachers opt for arts studies as opposed to sciences.
“Majority of teachers that are coming out of our universities are arts, we don’t get science teachers when you advertise. But we must agree that we have a shortage of science teachers, we have written to the education ministry several times. You would advertise for science and physics teachers and you won’t find one”, Macharia told the committee.
Macharia encouraged teaching students to consider pursuing sciences, to address the shortage of science teachers in the industry currently flooded with arts teachers.
