Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi inspects books during the launch of the Free Primary Education programme in the county on March 12, 2015. [Photo/ standardmedia.co.ke]
The county government of Kilifi is set to offer free early childhood development education starting January, 2018.
Governor Amason Kingi said his government reached the decision after realising many children of school-going age do not attend class because their parents cannot afford to pay their fees.Kingi said the department of education in the county is finalising the policies required to implement the programme, which he says will help reduce illiteracy in the county.Speaking at Shariani, the Governor said the funds set aside for the programme will be used to pay the caregivers and procure learning materials.“In this financial year, I have budgeted for free education for our children in ECDE. The county will provide all materials, including books. We will also pay the caregivers. The parent will only buy the school uniform and take the child to school. The rest will be done by the county government,” said Kingi, as quoted by The Star.The Governor further said that his administration will expand the current free milk programme to cover all ECDE centres.“Currently the free milk is only provided in public ECDE centres, but this financial year we will expand it to kids in private centres. We want to make sure every child in Kilifi county benefits from this programme,” he added.