The Cabinet Secretary of Education Fred Matiang’i has expressed the need to harmonise and coordinate the implementation of standards relating to Early Childhood Development and Education in the country.
Dr Matiang’i said the harmonisation would ensure that the National and County Government deliver ECDE services in ways that met the educational and development needs of the children.
He said this when he met the County Education Executives (CEE) of the 47 County governments at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Monday.
He was flanked by the Director General, Leah Rotich, the Chief Executive Officer of KICD, Julius Jwan, the Chair of County Education Executives, Beryl Mutekhele and her deputy, Jamleck Muturi.
He said the harmonisation of would require among others, standardization and the coordination of ECDE teacher training, buildings used for teaching and learning, national standards on curriculum, assessment, including provision of Special Needs Education at ECD levels.
Dr Matiang’i said the goal of education is to prepare and develop literacy and numeracy skills of learners, saying this should be the guiding principle in all policy actions of the National and County Governments.
He said an integrated framework on ECDE where the Ministries of education, Health and Labor would work together to meet the development and education needs of children will effectively cater for the needs of the children.
He said the Ministry had created a Directorate for ECDE to be headed by a Director, saying this would give priority to the needs of children at their earliest stages of development.
“We are committed to work as one big education family,” Dr Matiang’i noted, saying the County governments should count on the commitment of the National Government to provide sound policy framework for the delivery of quality education at all levels of education.
At the same time, Dr Matiang’i appealed to the CEEs to help the Ministry to deliver credible examinations results to this year’s KCPE and KCSE candidates.
“We need support to re-store confidence in our national education and examinations systems,” Dr Matiang’i said, noting that government had an obligation to deliver examinations results that reflected the abilities and effort of students.
The Director General, Mrs Rotich said investing in early childhood development and education reduced wastage and dropout rates in education.
“It also increases transition rates from Primary to secondary education,” Mrs Rotich noted.
The Chairman of County Education Executives for all the 47 County Governments, Dr Muturi said County Governments were reforming ECDE infrastructure in their respective regions to improve education to children.
He said most had recruited qualified teachers with certificates and diploma qualifications, saying however, that the teachers did not get uniform remuneration given different budgetary resources available for ECDE programmes in the counties.
He, however, said that County Governments, through the County Education Executive Offices would work closely with the national government to deliver quality ECDE to children.
“We have 47 units but one nation,” Dr Muturi noted.
In attendance were several senior Education officials.