KUCCPS admits learners for training as teachers

The admission of new students to teachers' training colleges through Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) will start in June.

This follows a recent expansion of the KUCCPS mandate, where the Ministry of Education transferred admission of new TTC students to the placement agency.

The CEO of KUCCPS, Dr Mercy Wahome, said KUCCPS would add value to the TTC admission process by utilising its automated placement system to guarantee fair competition among applicants. “One thing we pride ourselves on is being able to place students in the fairest way possible. We can assure the Ministry that KUCCPS is ready for the task,” Dr Wahome said.

The 2022 Primary TTC trainee placement targets 2020 and 2021 secondary school leavers. The application was opened alongside that for universities and TVET colleges after the March 2022 KCSE exam for both Kenyans and non-Kenyans.

Wahome said candidates whose 2021 KCSE results were released were also free to apply. This will be the second cohort to be admitted to the public primary TTCs under the new Diploma in Teacher Education and Diploma in Early Childhood Development Education.

The programme was developed by the KICD and affirmative action will also be applied to benefit applicants with disabilities and those from marginalised regions, whose applications will be submitted and handled manually to take care of their special needs.

Before the TTC admissions were brought under KUCCPS, the placement agency coordinated the selection of students for government sponsorship to public and private universities, TVET colleges and the three secondary diploma teacher training colleges, namely Kibabii, Kagumo and Lugari.

In the 2021 placement, the capacities at the three secondary diploma TTCs were filled 100 per cent by KUCCPS. The primary diploma TTCs attracted 990 trainees of the 10,000 that the ministry’s recruitment targeted. With KUCCPS coming on board, the stakeholders expressed hope that the enrolment in the public primary TTCs would increase.

Ahead of the 2022 intake, the Ministry and KUCCPS convened a stakeholder forum for principals and deans of curriculum from all the 34 public primary teacher training colleges, to discuss a roadmap for the admissions and train the participants on the automated KUCCPS placement processes.

The TTC admissions were previously conducted by the Ministry of Education at the county headquarters, and involved applicants manually filling and submitting application forms, but will now be done online through KUCCPS systems.

The KUCCPS Board assured the principals of an efficient process. “KUCCPS will undertake a well-coordinated and harmonised selection process in a fair manner,” said Prof Geoffrey Muluvi, who is also the South Eastern Kenya University vice chancellor.