A whopping 28,300 ECDE tutors are working on contract while a paltry 13,502 are teaching on permanent basis.

This was revealed by the Senate Education Committee Chaired by Alice Milgo.The committee had been investigating reports that most counties pay the pre-primary school tutors below the gazetted government minimum wage which is against Early Childhood Development Education ACT 2021.

The Act stipulates that all county public service boards should remunerate the ECDE tutors according to the said scheme of service.

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The committee noted that the county government employ tutors on poor terms with some earning as low as Sh7,000 while the highest is paid Sh40,000 and in order to marry the difference the committee directed the county governments to engage a budgetary provision to effect the salary increment within the next 60 days.

In this respect,the county governors asked the national government for grants up to the tune of Sh4.3 billion per year from the national treasury to pay ECDE tutors.

The county government chiefs through the Council of Governors said that the provision of yearly grants of Sh2,292 per learner will enable them to effectively fulfil the terms agreed in the scheme of service to the ECDE tutors.

Embu Governor Martin Wambora who is Chairman of the Council of Governors told the Senate Education Committee that their are 1,916,690 ECDE learners in their respective centres who would be able to raise the said Sh4.39 billion.

The report further revealed that the best paying counties are Mandera,Garissa,Embu,Turkana,Kajiado,Kilifi,Kwale,Kiambu,Kisumu,Nairobi and Bungoma and on the other hand,the ten worst paying counties are Kericho,Baringo,Nyandarua,Nandi,Kitui,Laikipia,and Uasin Gishu.

The Senate has asked the 47 county governments to increase the salaries of 42,700 nursery school teachers within 60 days.

In a report to the House, the Education committee says 23 counties have not initiated any process to implement an existing scheme of service for early childhood development education teachers (ECDE).

The committee said only eight counties have fully implemented the scheme of service while 16 have partially done so.

“The 23 counties have not initiated any process to implement the scheme of service. They pay ECDE teachers’ stipend with most of the teachers paid by parents,” said Alice Milgo, who chairs the committee.

Read also:

Salaries of ECDE Teachers in Kenya per county

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Over 10,000 ECDE Teachers Receive Appointment Letters on PnP Terms-See salaries

PI And ECDE Teachers To Foot Their Upgrading Fees

Ms Milgo said out of the 42,700 teachers employed by county governments, 13,502 are permanently employed while 28,300 are on contract.

Another 4,000 were remunerated by parent teachers’ associations.

Some counties pay as low as Sh7,000, with the highest paying county paying Sh40,000. Most counties employ ECDE teachers on contract as opposed to permanent and pensionable terms.

The committee compiled the report following a petition by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua regarding the plight of ECDE teachers and the poor status of ECD classrooms.

The committee said its interaction with stakeholders revealed that most counties pay ECDE teachers below government minimum wage.

“Some ECDE teachers received stipends for work done since 2013. This is despite a draft scheme of service being validated by stakeholders, the National Treasury, the Teachers Service Commission and the National Treasury,” Ms Milgo said.

She said counties had employed teachers on poor terms yet there is an approved scheme of service and remuneration structure for ECDE teachers.

“The committee recommends that all county governments should provide a budget for ECDE and effect salary increment within 60 days of tabling this report,” she said.

The committee has also recommended that the Council of Governance (CoG) review the job description for the ECDE teachers and submit it to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for review within 100 days.

The committee has further asked the CoG to establish a career progression for the ECDE teachers within 90 days of tabling the report.

“The committee recommends that county governments and their county assemblies should enact legislation to increase the budget for the ECDE to at least 10 percent of county revenue. This will turn around education at the county level,” Ms Milgo said.

The committee also wants Parliament to fast track the passage of the County Governments Grants Bill, 2021 so that county governments ring-fence grants for the ECD.