Shouts of joy rent the air at the Moi Gardens in Kericho town after 1,132 Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers, across the 30 wards in the county, were confirmed into permanent and pensionable terms.
The county governor Dr. Eric Mutai stated that the ECDE scheme of service had been implemented with full compliance with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) regulations.
In this scheme of service, Assistant ECDE Teacher 3 with a certificate will earn Sh.29,561, ECDE Teacher 3 with a Diploma (Sh.40,000), while a degree ECDE Teacher will earn Sh.49,000 monthly salary.
According to Mutai, the County Government of Kericho has also created 65 additional ECDE teaching positions for others to be employed on contract terms to ensure all Public ECDE Centres in the county have sufficient competent and professional teachers to attend to Pre-Primary pupils at the ward level.
‘We want to motivate our ECDE teachers who play a vital role in the development of our children and with the review of their terms, I know they will tremendously improve on their service delivery. We appreciate our ECDE teachers for their hard work and patience,’ he said.
The governor further revealed that plans were underway to kick off a school feeding programme at all the public ECDE centres to enable pupils receive a fully satisfying balanced diet every day for the development of their bodies, mind and health as they pursue their academics.
‘In our relentless pursuit of excellence, we have scheduled a supplementary budget to ensure that every ECDE center in Kericho receives the support it needs for a comprehensive feeding programme. Healthy minds require nourishment, and we stand firmly behind this principle,’ reiterated Dr. Mutai.
The governor further said he is committed in transforming the public ECDE centres in the county to be admirable institutions of learning, fully equipped with facilities and manpower that offer competent services to boost academic performance of pupils.
‘We have already distributed learning materials to our ECDE centres and also equipped them with playground materials and facilities. We are also transporting desks and mattresses to the centers for our children to sleep when they are tired,’ added Dr. Mutai.
He also revealed that 3000 youths drawn from all the wards will soon be enrolled to various Vocational Technical Training Centers within the county to be equipped with technical skills.
This will in turn empower them to start personal businesses, thus opening avenues for self-employment, added the governor.
Other guests who joined the colourful celebrations included the Nyandarua County Governor Moses Badilisha, Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Kericho Woman Representative Beatrice Kemei and area Members of County Assembly, among other various education stakeholders.
Source: Kenya News Agency