The Teachers Service Commission has been asked to revert to its earlier decision that lowered the entry points to colleges for primary school teachers.
In May, the Ministry of Education terminated the training of 3,000 teachers who had attained D+ in their KCSE exams. At least 300 trainees at the Garissa Teachers Training College were sent home.
Education PS Belio Kipsang instructed the eight regional directors of education to ensure all private and public colleges only train students who attained a minimum of C (plain) for certificates and C+ for diploma courses. The letter was dated April 26.
Dadaab MP Mohamed Dahiye on Tuesday said teachers trained under the programme were meant to fill the glaring shortage experienced in the region.
The legislator said Garissa and Mandera teachers' colleges face imminent closure because of lack of students.
He said if TSC fails to reconsider the decision, then the implementation of the new curriculum would not be achieved in the region.
Dahiye said the policy was the method best to tackle teacher shortages in the 17 counties that were targeted.
He said proper channels were followed and stakeholders input was adopted before the programme was launched.
"TSC mandate is limited to recruitment and deployment and the reason why they are involving themselves in matters of policy, which is squarely in the ministry's docket, is beyond comprehension. As people from a marginalised area, we feel we are being targeted," the MP said.
Dahiye alleged that the region is negatively profiled by examiners, "leading to mass failure year in, year out."
He urged the Kenya National Examination Council to trust the monitoring systems the government had put in place to curb cheating,"not look for reasons to fail candidates".
Garissa Knut executive Abdirizak Hussein termed the move "outright discrimination". He said the ministry should not be seen as being part of the problem.
