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The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is seeking to review academic qualifications for people who wish to join the teaching service.

TSC Secretary Nancy Macharia has said that the Commission is the single largest employer in the region so its impact on the education sector cannot be understated.

The commission said the amendment of the Act is part of the measures to  provide a qualifications framework to avoid frequent review of entry standards.

“You are aware that we are reviewing the TSC Act and the Code of Regulation for teachers to anchor reforms. We are meeting with all education stakeholders so that there can be a consensus,” said Macharia during a media engagement forum held in Nairobi. TSC has made proposals to have mean grade of C (plain) in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam as the minimum grade to enroll for a diploma course in teaching and a C+ (plus) for a degree course.

The commission also wants those taking a diploma course to  have a minimum of C- (minus) in English and at least D plain in Mathematics, as part of efforts to address numeracy and literacy challenges.

Sober debate

During the forum TSC legal, Labour and Industrial Relations Director Cavin Anyuor argued that the teaching career has the greatest burden of producing the best professionals in all fields through proper training hence the need for entry grades to be reviewed.

“There is clamour that the entry grades be either reduced, enhanced or retained as they are. We need to interrogate the entry requirements and look at other professions in the country and juxtapose those of the teaching profession with others like Medicine, Law and Engineering and we can have a sober debate,” said Anyuor.

He added: “The question is that when it comes to teaching, stakeholders want extremely low grades and when it comes to other professions the grades are very high and nobody is complaining. The reverse of it is that teaching is the mother of all these professions.”

Anyuor said the entry grades in teaching must be compared with the rest so that the quality of education is enhanced.

He explained that TSC is also seeking to ensure teaching graduates can work globally, in addition to being in line with changes in curriculum and delivery.

TSC is reviewing the Act to take into consideration reforms that have been taking place in the education sector. The current Act was enacted in 2012.

“Every amendment we have proposed in the bill originates from TSC constitutional mandate under Article 237. We have not stepped out of it,” Anyuor said.

The commission  develops teaching and performance standards for teachers and ensures compliance.

Teacher export

TSC also advises the national government on standards of education and training of persons entering the teaching service and maintains the teacher register. It also issues and cancels certificates of registration in accordance with regulations.

Anyuor said plans are underway to start exporting surplus teachers to other countries. He said the government is in talks with the Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs to secure teachers employment abroad.

“We have started engaging with the key stakeholder for exporting the teaching resource because we have a surplus of teachers in the country. We are engaging the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant government agencies so that our teachers can go and teach English in Germany,” Anyuor said.