Kenyan teacher employer hasn't changed the academic qualifications required to qualify to teach, as claimed online
IN SHORT: A viral Facebook post claims that Kenya's Teachers Service Commission has raised the academic threshold for education degrees and diplomas. But the TSC says this is not accurate.
According to a Facebook post, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which employs teachers in Kenya, has updated the academic requirements for education degrees and diplomas and urged prospective teachers to check their eligibility to avoid future registration problems.
According to the post, which is headed "advisory", for a bachelor's degree in education, candidates now need:
- B- in mathematics and English,
- C+ in teaching subjects, and
- C+ overall in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The bridging of courses is also supposedly no longer accepted to meet these qualifications.
For a diploma in secondary teacher education, the requirements are:
- D+ in mathematics,
- C in English, and
- C+ overall in the KCSE.
The advisory stresses the importance of meeting these standards, as TSC registration numbers are only issued to qualified graduates. This unique identifier is mandatory to teach in Kenyan schools and confirms that a teacher is registered with the commission.
In addition, the TSC appears to warn that some universities are still admitting students who do not meet these requirements, who will not be able to teach after graduation.
This claim surfaced before the KCSE results were announced in January 2025, causing confusion among prospective teachers.
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The alleged revisions are notably stricter, especially for bachelor's degrees in education.
This supposed advisory also appears here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of the report.)
But has TSC revised the academic qualifications for education degrees? We checked.
No changes to teacher qualifications
Teachers form the largest category of public servants in Kenya, so any changes would have been widely reported in the media. But we didn't find any coverage of this.
We could also not find any recent official notices with these revisions on the commission's Facebook and X (previously Twitter) accounts or website.
According to TSC, the qualifications for a bachelor of education degree remain unchanged: a minimum mean grade of C+ in KCSE and a C+ in each of the two specialisation subjects. Diploma applicants also require a C+ in KCSE and in the two specialisation subjects.
The commission also debunked the claim. "Beware of Fake News! The requirements for persons wishing to join the teaching service are outlined in our website tsc.go.ke Stay informed," the TSC posted on its official X handle on 13 January.
This claim also appears here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
