KNEC, through a 23 October 2021 tweet, flagged that information as false.

Syndicated Story By PesaCheck.

This website article claiming that the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) is offering 250 scholarships to learners joining teacher training colleges is FALSE.

According to the article, scholarships are limited to those joining the September and January intakes at International Teacher Training Colleges (ITTCs) only.

“The scholarship will be of much benefit to students facing fee crisis. Besides, it will also give the government an easy time in implementing the competence-based curriculum because the sponsorship will produce adequate teachers to match the curriculum,” the article adds.

Scholarships are available to those taking the following courses — Diploma in Secondary Teacher Education, Diploma in Early Childhood Teacher Education, Diploma in Primary Teacher Education, and Diploma Upgrading to DPTE & DECTE.

A scrutiny of the article, however, reveals some red flags. One is the number of available scholarships. The article says 250 are up for grabs, but a look at the scholarship allocation to the different courses, reveals the number exceeds 250.

Another red flag is the minimum qualification as a C+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) for all teacher trainee applicants. But later on in the article, the qualification for the Diploma in Early Childhood Teacher Education and the Diploma in Primary Teacher Education changes to a C (plain).

Details regarding where applicants can send their applications are listed in this other article.

“To make an application SMS your details to 0717484651 or Apply Online via http://admission.ittc.ac.ke or check International Teachers Training College Website for more info http://www.ittc.ac.ke,” the second article states.

The mobile number 0717484651 provided in the article is different from the official one listed on the ITTC website. Similarly, there is no information about scholarships listed on the ITTC website.

Also, KNEC has not announced scholarships to trainee teachers on their website, Twitter account, or Facebook page. And KNEC has flagged this website article claiming that the institution is offering scholarships as fake.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.

Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.

This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Naomi Wanjiku and edited by PesaCheck chief copy editor Rose Lukalo. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Enock Nyariki.

PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.

PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.