A report by the Kisumu County Education network has revealed that county governments are still ill-prepared to manage Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE).
The study indicates that the counties still lack an elaborate framework that can make ECDE work well under their management.
This has, however, not gone down well with many county governments who are seeking to use ECDE centres as flagship projects in their counties.
The national government, according to the draft policy framework on education (2012), retained responsibilities for policy, standards and curriculum development, even where implementation is undertaken by county governments.
Among the challenges facing ECDE are lack of adequate learning and teaching materials, especially books for use at an early age where no standard curriculum is followed.
The study, presented by Community initiative Action Group Kenya Director Chris Owalla in Kisumu, revealed that most ECDE classrooms and the surrounding physical environment in general are in poor conditions across the county.
Owalla said many county governments also lack elaborate feeding programme for the children.
"Only 36.9 percent of the schools sampled out offered some form of feeding programme to children," said Owalla.
At the nutritional value of the feeding programme, only 34.5 per cent of the schools offered ten o'clock snacks and while 16.67 per cent offered enriched porridge for ECD children and 56 per cent did not.
Owalla also said that most of the ECDE centres, including public and community ones do not meet the National Early Childhood development service standard guidelines.
"Most of the centres are squeezed and dilapidated,” said the director.