Kabarnet: Baringo County has placed 1,588 Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers from across the seven sub-counties into permanent and pensionable terms. Speaking when he officiated the issuing of confirmation letters at Kabarnet social hall, Deputy Governor Eng. Felix Kimaiyo said the move is part of a campaign pledge by Governor Benjamin Cheboi in 2013 to look into the welfare of staff and the development of the over 1,000 ECDE centres in the county.
According to Kenya News Agency, the deputy governor lauded the teachers for their patience throughout the 11 years they were on contract terms, adding that the results of their struggle were worth celebrating. Eng. Kimaiyo, accompanied by County Secretary Jacob Chepkwony and a host of members of the County Assembly (MCAs), said the increase in the teachers’ salaries from less than Sh10,000 to Sh24,000 per month will see them deliver in imparting foundational skills and knowledge to children across the seven sub-counties. ‘These are the people wh
o do early development for our children, and if we start wrong, then we are going to fail as a county,’ he said.
The deputy governor stated that the county administration has trained the teachers to conform to the competency-based curriculum and was in the process of enrolling them for free at the various ICT centres during holidays for them to adapt to the current digital era. Eng. Kimaiyo at the same time urged MCAs to fast-track the County Meals and Nutrition Bill, 2024, which is at the public participation stage in order to boost the enrolment of learners, especially from poor backgrounds who are unable to attend school due to lack of food.
Chepkwony, on the other hand, called for a policy change of county bursaries, which he said can be channelled to support the welfare of ECDE and Vocational Training colleges tutors. The county secretary noted that the county still has a deficit of 622 ECDE teachers, who must be recruited on permanent and pensionable terms in the next financial year in order to fully
operationalise all the centres within the area. He gave out a one-year window period to the 177 untrained teachers who are on contract to go back to school in order to ratify their terms or else risk losing their jobs.
The County Assembly Committee Chair for Education, Michael Chebon, gave an assurance that all retired ECDE teachers who never enjoyed the fruits of their struggle shall get their gratuity payment.