Education Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang told the National Assembly’s education committee that out of the projected 10,735 teacher’s trainees, 9,349 applied to join the colleges.
Dr Kipsang added that the Ministry had also targeted to have an enrolment of 786 in diploma colleges, but only 650 applied.
This is in contrast to the past trends when the colleges would be forced to turn away applicants for lack of space.
The reduced demand has been linked to a small share of teachers being absorbed in the job market and the lowering of entry marks to university to C+, which is the same grade required for diploma teaching.
The number of students joining teacher colleges has declined in the last two years due to poor performance in national examinations and fear of a tough job market.
Education Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang told the National Assembly’s education committee that out of the projected 10,735 teacher’s trainees, 9,349 applied to join the colleges.
Dr Kipsang added that the Ministry had also targeted to have an enrolment of 786 in diploma colleges, but only 650 applied.
This is in contrast to the past trends when the colleges would be forced to turn away applicants for lack of space.
The reduced demand has been linked to a small share of teachers being absorbed in the job market and the lowering of entry marks to university to C+, which is the same grade required for diploma teaching.
Education committee Vice-chairman Amos Kimunya expressed concerns over the declining numbers saying the sector may lack teachers in future.
The Kenya Teachers Colleges Association chairman James Wachaga, warned that unless the situation was addressed, facilities in colleges would go to waste.
“We have no students to admit and most colleges have now empty spaces. We relied on students who sat their exams in 2015 and earlier. However, the number is almost exhausted and this year we do not know who we will admit,” said Mr Wachaga.
“We have colleges that have empty male students’ dormitories.”
The association now wants the grade for those joining non-diploma teachers colleges reduced from C to C-.
“The competences required for teachers can still be managed by a C- student,” proposed Mr Wachaga.
The Kenya Universities Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) Chief executive John Muraguri said most students prefer lucrative courses such as medicine to teaching.
However, Mr Muraguri said no study has been conducted by the agency to determine the number of students currently taking education courses.
Mrs Macharia said currently there are 312,060 teachers.
She told the committee that primary schools have a shortage of 40,972 teachers while secondary schools need 63,849 tutors.
“This situation has been occasioned by opening of new schools and the recent government policy on 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary which commenced in January 2018,” said the CEO.
The colleges have about 400 teachers. Kisii County has the highest number of employed teachers in the country at 11,378, followed by Nakuru at 11,250.
