The Teachers Service Commission has disqualified teachers with B.Ed (Primary option) from teaching in junior schools. This effectively means that this category of teachers will not be eligible for junior school jobs.
“Enclosed with this circular is the lists of the 1,436 teachers. Upon receipt, you are required to further vet and deploy qualified teachers to Junior School in accordance with the guidelines provided,” said the Teachers Service Commission Acting Chief Executive Officer Everleen Mutei.
The TSC stated that it received 3,718 applications from primary school teachers who are seeking to start teaching in junior schools. Out of these applications, only 1,436 applicants met the requirements that were set by the commission. Out of 220,000 primary school teachers in the country, over about 216,000 teachers did not express interest in the jobs.
The qualification criteria set by the TSC demanded that a teacher must have at least a Diploma in Education with a minimum grade of C+ at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination or its equivalent. They should also have a mean grade of C+ (plus) in two teaching subjects that are being offered in the curriculum, or two principles and one subsidiary pass at ‘A’ level.
The commission further required that a teacher with a mean grade of C (Plain) in KCSE who later went on to acquire a Diploma in Education and a Bachelor of Education degree would also qualify for the jobs.
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A teacher who attained a mean grade C (Plain) at KCSE, then undertook a university bridging course before December 31, 2015, and scored C+ or above in two teaching subjects has also been accepted as meeting the criteria for teaching junior school.
These guidelines have been supported by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), which has said that primary school teachers must be kept at the primary level.
According to KUPPET, junior schools are similar to secondary schools and ought to be taught by graduate teachers, not by primary teachers who are upscaled to junior school.
