Why TSC Will Not Fail In its current proposal To Replace B.ED With BSC/B.A + PGDE
The teacher’s service commission has proposed the replacement of B.ED with B.SC / B.A, followed by a PGDE. This would mean that bachelor’s degree will not be there, if the proposals are passed by September as documented. There is a plan however to ensure that current B.ED holders, both employed and unemployed, are not left behind.
Kenyans have rubbished the idea and further concluded that it is dead on arrival. However, before analyzing the legal framework upon which these proposal are grounded, it is prudent to recall that TSC gets what it wants and rarely loses. The role of the workshop was to sensitize University Deans, School of Education & Chief Principals of Diploma Teacher Training Colleges on the Teacher Education Framework on the Requirements for Entry into the Teaching Service, and not ask them to accept or reject.
Looking at the legal framework that TSC is basing its agument on, this proposal might pass and therefore teachers, both in service and unemployed, should get prepared.
Experts have argued that TSC is just fulfilling its mandate as an independent commission, and even the ministry has backed the said proposal. Some of the contents of the policy had even been pledged by the current TSC chair prior to his appointment.
Legal Framework guiding the current TSC proposals
1.The Sessional Paper No 1 of 2005: A Policy Framework for Education, Training and Research: Aligning Education and Training to the Constitution of Kenya (2010) and Kenya Vision 2030 and beyond 2012 (MoE, 2012) highlighted the need to coordinate and rationalize Kenya education and training.
According to TSC, these new proposals will ensure the provision of sufficient teachers to meet the demands of education system (CBC) and to ensure that all teachers are properly qualified and possess the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes to teach effectively.
2. The Framework is supported by the Constitution of Kenya (2010), Articles 237 (2) which mandates TSC:
- to register trained teachers,
- review the standards of education and training of persons entering the teaching service,
- review the demand for and the supply of teachers
- Advise the national Government on matters relating to the teaching profession among other functions.
3. The Constitution of Kenya (2010) Chapter fifteen Article 248 established the TSC as a constitutional commission to undertake Teacher Management functions. Teacher management is classified into three main categories: entry, maintenance and exit.
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4. Under its Mandate, the Commission ensures the establishment and maintenance of a sufficient professional teaching force that is equitably distributed and optimally utilized in public educational institutions.
5. The Constitution further charges the TSC with the responsibility of reviewing the standards of education and training of persons entering the teaching service, reviewing the demand for any supply of teachers and advising the national government on matters relating to the teaching profession.
