History, myths and facts behind Tambach TTC’s unusual design

Perched on the dramatic Kerio escarpment along the Eldoret-Kabarnet Road, Tambach Teachers Training College (TTTC) is more than a centre for professional training. 

It stands as a landmark in Kenya’s education history and an architectural curiosity that has attracted attention far beyond the Rift Valley.

The origins of teacher training in Tambach stretch back to the early decades of the 20th century, when formal education was taking root in the region. 

The site was first established as the Government African School, serving the Tambach community. This institution served as a training ground for elementary teachers and played a significant role in early education development. 

Among its notable staff in the late 1940s was the late Daniel arap Moi, who taught and later served as head of the school before moving into colonial and then national politics, eventually becoming Kenya’s president.

By the late 1950s, the site had been renamed Tambach Training College, reflecting its formal role in preparing educators. 

Following recommendations from the Ominde Education Commission in the 1960s, the college merged with Mosoriot Teachers College, and the original teacher training activities at Tambach transitioned into what became Tambach High School. 

Some of the buildings from that era, including the house where Moi once lived, remain part of the high school campus today. 

The current Tambach Teachers Training College was established decades later as part of a nationwide expansion of primary teacher education. 

Built on an expansive tract of escarpment land with support from the World Bank, the college opened its doors to its first cohort of trainees in September 1991. 

Those early classes included students in a range of primary teaching qualifications; since the mid-1990s, the institution has focused on the P1 training programme for primary school teachers. 

Today, the college continues to serve as a public institution under the Ministry of Education, training educators who are deployed to primary schools across the country. 

What sets Tambach Teachers Training College apart visually is its distinctive, star-shaped architectural layout. 

The main academic and administrative complex is arranged with multiple wings radiating from a central core, forming a geometric pattern that resembles a star when viewed from above.

This two-storey structure, complemented by a 1,000-seat multipurpose hall, hostels, laboratories, and specialised teaching facilities, remains a subject of curiosity and discussion among visitors and observers.

The star design has inspired commentary on social media and drawn attention beyond Kenya’s borders, though commentary attributing symbolic intentions to the form, such as comparisons with religious symbols, is not part of documented architectural planning or institutional records.