It is important to note that the system of having teachers to study their areas of specialisation is already in place.
We already have people who have done their degrees in their respective disciplines like engineering, science or arts teaching in schools because of the system where they go through postgraduate diploma training in education.
The proposal which they are making is not actually new. It is a proposal which has been made, previously, by the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association.
This will help professionalise education because a number of universities train people their own way. Training of teachers in these universities is also affected by a number of factors, including the experience of professors, availability of resources and capacity for research.
That is why you will most likely find that graduates from Kenyatta University have a set of values different from those from Egerton or Moi universities.
Even in Uganda, the United States of America and the United Kingdom or Germany, teaching is not the first degree you earn at the bachelor's level. No. The system there is different.
In those countries, you must have a bachelor's of arts or science before you advance to the school of teaching where you are specifically trained as a teacher.
It would be like what happens here for lawyers, who after graduating with a bachelor's degree in law, proceed to the Kenya School of Law to train as advocates.
The proposal must have been lifted from the comparative studies that have been carried out and shared.
I do not think there is anything wrong with the proposal.
What is important is that the current system is crowded and this one will make graduates have a mastery of content.
When teachers have a mastery of content and you professionalise teaching, then one would come out of university with a full grasp.
It is not only about having the Kenya School of Teaching, but we also need a lengthy internship or teaching practice so that one doesn't just teach for a term and then think they have qualified as a teacher.
The Kuppet Secretary-General spoke to the Star
