Stakeholders are now calling on the government to put in place a scheme of service for Early Childhood Education(ECD) teachers.
The stakeholders that were drawn from the Senate and county Committees on Education, Kenya National Union of Teachers, experts on ECD and non governmental organisations were speaking during the third Annual Early Childhood Education Summit organized by the Competence Building Society of Early Childhood Education for Kenya in Kisumu.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers Deputy Secretary General Hesbon Otieno observed that the delivery of ECD services has been a challenge in the country not just on financial grounds but also in capacity building of the pre-school teachers and county governments on how to handle the programs.
“There is an urgent need to have ECD teachers represented by their own union to have them voice out their concerns in one voice. Knut has come up with a policy to include the ECD teachers as there members,” Mr Otieno said.
He observed that the Teachers Service Commission is the only body mandated to employ teachers but with the devolved functions there seems to be a clash between the county government and the the state.
“In the consultations we have had, TSC are willing to come up with the terms of service for ECD teachers in a bid to promote professionalism and job security. There is no equity in the employment of these teachers as the processes have been politicized,” he said.
“Various counties have employed teachers but we don’t know under which conditions and terms of service have they been hired. They don’t even have any recognition with the county governments and that is where the challenge lies in the whole processes of implementing ECD programs,” said Mr Otieno.
He said Knut is currently working to absorb the ECD teachers as their members to allow them have a bargaining power at the national level.