The philosophy of teacher education formulated in 1982 determined the direction of teacher
education. The philosophy gives emphasis to the desire to educate and produce teachers who are
noble and caring, knowledgeable and skilful, creative and innovative, resilient and competent,
scientific in outlook, committed to upholding the aspirations of the nation, proud of their heritage
and dedicated to the development of the individual and preservation of a united, progressive, and
disciplined society.
This underlying philosophy is translated in principle to the teacher curriculum, which
encourages the development of a balanced, well-rounded individual, who is a trained and skilled
individual thus ensuring that the ministry aspirations are met.
The Ministry of Education’s (MOE) main concern is to provide pre-service as well as
in-service training for its teachers in order to meet the needs of its schools. Both the teacher
training colleges and universities undertake the mission of teacher education and training. Before
the establishment of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) on 27 March 2004, teacher
education and planning were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE). Since
2004 secondary and primary school teacher training were separated and given to MOHE and
MOE respectively. The MOHE trains the secondary school teachers via government-funded
universities and the MOE trains primary teachers via the Institute of Teacher Education (ITE), to
ensure professional development is encouraged and its goals and aspirations are achieved.