ECDE Centers Poorly Remunerated With Over 28,955 Teachers Employed On Contract – Senate Report.
The revelations contained in a Senate report revealed the appalling state of some Early Childhood and Development Education centers in the county where young children under the age of five learn.
The Senate Education Committee’s report, which investigated the status of the centers in response to a petition, was tabled in the House last week.
Some students in early childhood education are learning in small, crowded makeshift classrooms made of iron sheets.
They do not have access to toilets and must borrow them from neighboring villages in some cases.
According to the report, the majority of the centers lack teacher staffrooms.
The teachers are underpaid, with the report indicating that approximately 30,000 of the more than 42,000 tutors are on contracts.
“There are 42,457 ECDE teachers employed by the county governments. Out of this, only 13,502 are on permanent and pensionable terms while the remaining 28,955 are employed on contracts,” it said.
School management boards or Parents Associations compensate approximately 4,563 caregivers who are employed.
According to the report, in some centers, children are sent home to earn Sh5 in order to pay teachers who are paid through the parent and teachers association arrangement.
While the CoG advises county governments on the implementation of ECDE teachers’ service schemes, only eight county governments have fully implemented them.
The devolved units are in charge of pre-primary education.
“Sixteen are reported to be at the finalising stage to bring on board all the teachers that are based on the scheme of service,” it states.
According to the reports, three county governments have not begun any process to implement the ECDE teachers’ scheme of service.
“Therefore, there are only 23 county governments that are paying ECDE teachers what I call a stipend,” Milgo said.
It demonstrates that the majority of the centers have been neglected by both the national and county governments, with no budget for teacher salaries or development.
Senators claim that, in contrast to primary and secondary schools, where the government has been busy developing CBC curriculum, nothing has been done for the ECDE, despite the fact that it is the foundation of knowledge.
ECDE Centers Poorly Remunerated With Over 28,955 Teachers Employed On Contract – Senate Report.
“You realise that ECDE is the foundation of education. The CBC will be a nightmare for those children to be able to understand what is going on in the upper classes without a proper foundation in ECDE,” the chairperson said.
We need to stamp our authority as a House to ensure that county government take the issues of ECDE teachers seriously.
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The report advised the Council of Governors, TSC, and KICD to develop modalities and a collaboration framework for ECDE teachers’ management, career progression, and capacity building.
The committee demanded that the agencies submit a report to the House on their progress in implementing the recommendations within 90 days.
The panel also asked county governments to enact legislation, in collaboration with their respective county assemblies, to increase annual budgetary allocation to the ECDE sector.
They want the ECDE to receive at least 10% of the county’s revenue.
Concerns Over Decline Of ECDE Teachers In Kenya
ECDE Centers Poorly Remunerated With Over 28,955 Teachers Employed On Contract – Senate Report
