BY PETER KARANJA
Over 30 Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) which were like deserted ghost homes, received what can only be described as a lease of new life on Monday, October 4, 2021.
Most college tutors, education stakeholders, surrounding communities and the the Ministry of Education who had spent their precious hours gnawing at their nails and hoping for a miracle – finally had one huge miracle.
They were going to have students sleeping on the idle beds, and warming the abandoned classroom seats once again.
Indeed the long awaited miracle came on Monday 4, after hundreds of students began trooping to college for yet another learning session expected to last two terms.
The school’s bank accounts are active once again – with learners required to pay over Ksh60,000 for the whole course.
The first term fee is Ksh43,000 – which is very good bread for the institutions that have been running on empty.
Things have not been looking good for most Primary Teachers Training Colleges – with private institutions suffering the most.
The last P1 certificate trainees completed their studies in December 2020, while the first diploma in primary teacher education (DPTE) just joined in June.
Only 400 students
Interestingly, the diploma class only attracted 400 students, and who were distributed to five selected colleges namely Thogoto, Machakos, Igoji, Baringo and Migori.
This means that over 30 colleges – and a number of private ones have not had any students. The infrastructure worth billions lay in waste until Monday 4.
Many claim the recent move requiring jobless teachers to return to school could be a ploy to salvage the many idle colleges.
“This is good news for us as an institution. I cannot remember when we last had this kind of student numbers in our school. It must have been back in the day – probably more than a decade ago,” a tutor who did not wish to be named said.
Reports indicate that the colleges admitted students from across the country with some of them receiving more students that others.
I had to transfer
Others who were placed in far flung colleges opted to transfer to colleges closer to their home counties.
“I was called to join a college in the Coast region, but my home is over 700 kilometers away in Migori county, so I had to shift,” said one student teacher.
According to the students, some colleges received as much as 400 students, most of whom had transferred from distant colleges.
“I was to join a college in Wajir. That’s very far… and which is why I transferred to one that is only 40 kilometers from my village. I can even cycle or walk home if I have no bus fare,” another student told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
The Education ministry wants the trainees, the majority P1 certificate holders, to align with the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) being rolled out.
More than 220,000 unemployed trained teachers are targeted under the one-year skills upgrading programme.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan said: “The teachers will be required to undergo the one-year upgrade programme, noting that 150,000 trained teachers currently working for private schools.”