P1 teachers training to be replaced

The current primary teacher education programme (P1) is set to be dropped and replaced with a diploma course starting next year.

The move is aimed at fast tracking the implementation of the new curriculum. According to the Curriculum Policy document signed by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, the replacement of the P1 teacher is part of a government initiative to produce high quality staff capable of implementing the new system, commonly known as Competence Based Curriculum (CBC).

The Teachers Service Commission TSC will be in charge of mounting a robust teacher training programme, an area that has been cited as weak and which prompted an earlier feeling that the CBC was not yet ripe for implementation.

TSC secretary Nancy Macharia will also institute an effective teacher deployment, management and development programme to meet the expectations of the reform in regular, special needs schools and tertiary institutions.

From Thursday this week when the new term begins, learners from pre-primary 1 and 2 and Grades 1-3 will be put on the less examination-oriented CBC in all public and private primary schools.

The latest development comes as TSC, Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) and the Ministry of Education’s Quality Assurance and Standards department bear sustained government pressure to deliver the new curriculum.

The four have been named as key to making or breaking the new curriculum.