Kiambu County, in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), has initiated a training programme to ensure that all Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers who were employed without diploma certificates are enrolled in diploma courses.
The County government will fully sponsor the training to ensure that all 1,538 teachers in 524 ECDE county ECDE centres have the needed skills and knowledge to shape young learners’ futures.
Governor Kimani Wamatangi, while opening a three-day capacity-building workshop for the tutors in Kiambu, said willing teachers would be enrolled in the county Bursary Programme, which has an annual kitty of Sh500 million.
“This is part of the comprehensive training programme we are rolling out; however, the teachers would be required to submit admission documents from reputable institutions offering ECDE teaching courses, and the county would pay the fees,” he said.
The governor also announced the county will hire 250 more ECDE teachers in January next year, lowering the current teacher-to-learner ratio to 1:34 to enable more individualised attention and efficient teaching.
“As part of our plan to strengthen the ECDE sector in Kiambu, my administration is committed to not only retrain but to ensure they are well equipped to guide the children’s learning.
Nancy Gichung’wa, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Education, Gender, Culture, and Social Services, thanked the partners and stakeholders in the education sector for their collaboration and walking with them in the education journey.
She went ahead and urged the teachers to engage and participate in the training, saying that learning does not stop and that everyone has something to offer each other.
Governor Wamatangi last month launched 109 newly constructed Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres as part of an ongoing effort by the County government to modernise all 524 public ECDE centres.
Wamatangi speaking in Githunguri then highlighted the impact of the county’s ongoing ECDE initiative, noting that the number of children in school has surged from 2,000 to 8,000.
During the event, he also announced that come January 2025, parents of ECDE students will no longer need to buy exercise books and school uniforms for their children, as the county government will provide them.
By Wangari Ndirangu
