Thousands of teachers who were seeking to join training colleges have been dealt a blow following changes in the entry requirements
Majority of the tutors were locked out of the training colleges after failing to meet the requirements set by the Ministry of Education.
The teachers had applied to study Diploma training in Primary and Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE).
In the new requirements, the trainees were expected to have a general grade of C (plain) with C in Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, a science and a humanity.
The lockout is highly likely to negatively affect the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) whose roll out has already begun.
In some instances, applicants had achieved the required mean grade to enroll for the studies but they fell short in individual subject grades.
The new training was expected to phase out P1 teachers whose last cohort graduated in December 2020.
Sub-county education directors confirmed that the lockout was huge with many sub-counties not recording a single admission despite receiving hundreds of applications.
In Lamu County, only three people qualified while in Tindiret, Turkana South and Tiaty sub-counties, none of the applicants were successful.
In Nandi, only 25 people sailed through despite a deficit of 388 while in Turkana, only nine people were admitted.
The successful applicants are expected to be absorbed into 32 training facilities across the country.
Since the launch of CBC in Kenya, the programme has faced a myriad of challenges including Shortage of teachers, inadequate infrastructure and lack of training for teachers.