Government In The Process Of Reviewing P1 Course

A teacher at work.  

Education SC, Fred Matiang’i, recently revealed that the government had embarked on a process of reviewing the curriculum for the P1 course. The comments by Matiang’i seem to suggest that the government might not discard the course as had been earlier indicated. Students taking P1 course end up as primary school teachers.

International standards

Matiang’i said that the review of P1 course will ensure that training for primary school teachers in Kenya aligns with international standards. P1 course has been around for years and it leads to the award of a certificate after two years of training. But the course has been marred with controversy in the recent years with some in the government as well as other education stakeholders suggesting that it should be phased out and in its place introduced a teacher-training course that leads to the award of diploma.

Striking teachers carry placards as they demand for better salary.

But Matiang’i appears to believe that P1 course is still relevant and what needs to be done to make it better is a review of the curriculum. The CS said that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) is currently drafting an updated version of the P1 curriculum that will be rolled out once the work is complete. No timeline was given for when the curriculum will be ready. But Matiang’i hinted that the new curriculum will seek to expand ICT literacy in the P1 training program. 

Qualification for P1 training in Kenya

It is also not clear whether the new curriculum will increase the number of years required to study for P1. But there have been calls to raise the grades required for admission into P1 course. Currently the minimum KCSE grade required for admission into any public or private P1 training college is C (Plain). The course previously admitted students with grades lower than C (plain), but the intake grade was raised as part of the efforts by the government to raise the quality of education rendered to Kenyan primary school pupils.

Kenyan public colleges P1 intake

Intake to join public P1 colleges is usually done in April and qualified applicants begin their studies in September. P1 students take two national examinations during their training whereby the first one is taken at the end of the first year and the second one at the end of the final year.

Knut officials in solidarity forever…….