Narrate the development of teacher education in Kenya

The first teachers who taught in the mission schools in Kenya were the first trained in India in an institution at Saharanpur. This was the centre for the freed slaves. It was run by the church missionary society (CMS). But, as the level of the mission schools increased, the need for more teachers increased too.
Therefore, a hasty training for teachers to man the catechist village schools became very necessary. For that matter, it became necessary to use more able pupils in the classes to help teach. In this case, the quick learners who were thus used in this way were, in fact training on the job.
This practice went long for a long time and even the education commissions of the time did not recommend the establishment of teachers colleges, in spite of the acute need.
However, it was the Phelps-stock commission which recommended for the first time an urgent training of teachers in the country. As a result of this recommendation, a two year teacher training course was started at Jeans school, Kabete in 1925. This was opened under the auspices of the Department of Education.
It was from this example that missionaries organizations in the country also joined the exercise of opening up teacher training centres.
Alliance which begun in 1926, after the three years begun training in:
-Agriculture
-Clerical work
-Teacher training
In the like manner, the Holy Ghost mission begun another teacher training at Kabaa. Here, like the case at Alliance the pupils in the higher classes were also taught the subjects of teacher education. They also undertook practical teaching during their school holidays.
By the time of the 2 world war the picture of training teachers in Kenya was that there was an appendix of a class in every primary school the secondary section. A full list of the schools which such appendices was the following:
-Alliance CMS
-Kabaa Holy Ghost
-Kamagambo SDA
-Kaimosi FAM
-Butere CMS
-Maseno CMS
-Kaloleni CMS
-Tumutumu Church of Scotland
-Eregi MHM
-Yala MHM
-Githunguri African Independent School
Following special recommendation by D.E.B Kagumo was opened to train primary teachers in 1944 to train for all denomination. Furthermore, past war political pressure led to rapid expansion in the school system. Makerere was made to expand the department of education to train T1 teachers for the secondary schools.
The Beecher report recommended the establishment of teacher training centres in Kenya. This recommendation led to the establishment of many isolated small train centres throughout the country. The intending organization to establish any such centres were to certify the following criteria:
-That there is a suitable site
-That, there is a locality which is interested in the establishment of such a centre
-That, there is a local language in which the local area will be served.


It was not usual that the many isolated teacher raining centres were set up by all the different missionary organizations in the country. Just as each had its own schools, so was the training centre.

Therefore, as we would be expected, there were many problems of coordination on matters of curriculum. This need led to the establishment of Kagumo and Siriba as centres of co-ordination of all matters regarding the training of all teachers. The first duty of these centres was to advice on how to consolidate the small isolated teacher training centres.
It was also discovered that having two centres for curriculum co-ordination in the country had disadvantages . This led to the establishment of Kenya Institute of Education (K.I.E).
Subsequently, the small training colleges were persuaded to merge into fewer larger centres. And following the Ominde commission recommendation, the government begun considering the economic capacity of the18 teachers’ colleges which had came out of the merger of small missionary centres.
The consideration which the government was to make was a long the following points:
-The type of curriculum for the colleges
-What facilities for the proper use of the colleges
-The nature for the staffing of the colleges

Training of the graduate teachers.

-Secondary school teachers were trained overseas till the early sixtees. A few of the were trained at Makerere. Makerere was the only school for higher learning in East Africa. It also trained for primary schools as well.
In 1929, there was a conference of Director of Education in Dar-es-Salaam. This conference expressed the view that Makerere should be made a general training institute for the advance training for the Africans. And in 1937, the De- la- Warr Commission broadened the functions of Makerere.
Makerere was awarded status of the university college status under special relationship with the university of London. This relationship led to the establishment of a department of education to offer B.Ed. degree and diplomas.
With these kind of graduates, inevitably they had to teach in the secondary schools
At the same time, a scheme for the provision of secondary school teachers was created with the title of “Teachers for East Africa”. OR “TEA” . Under this scheme the teachers were recruited from UK and USA. Before being posted to various schools in East Africa, they were first given an orientation at Makerere.
In 1966, a department of education was opened at the university college of Nairobi. This department was to train in Art and Sciences. In 1970 they introduced post graduate course. Later in the seventies, they opened up another faculty of education in Kenyatta University College.
The period just before and soon after independence saw a great expansion in the numbers of secondary schools creating an even greater need for secondary school teaches in the country. This factor require that another local source for supply of secondary schools had to be devised to supplement the graduate teachers.
Therefore, a new scheme was established in 1963. This was a three year course for holders of a school certificate. The course led to the S1 certificate in training. This course was housed at the Central Teacher Training College. The course was later transferred from CTTC to Kenyatta University College. This created a new breed of teachers in a new grade of S1 in Kenya.
A second course in the Si in Kenya Science Teachers College (KSTC) IN 1968. This was a new college established by funds from Swedish government.

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Titany answered the question on August 30, 2021 at 13:35