Nakuru County government is channeling more resources in training of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers on Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in a move aimed at building their capacity to effectively interpret and implement the new curriculum.
The County Executive Committee Member for Education, ICT and E-government Joseph Kiuna said more than 300 ECDE teachers will be trained on the usage of the Pre-primary 1 and 2 handbooks before implementation of the curriculum.
He said the County was placing an emphasis on CBC training of ECDE teachers on grounds that provision of quality education was determined by the capacity of the teachers.
Kiuna voiced the County’s commitment in ensuring that all the ECDE teachers across the county receive the training adding the retooling and reorienting of the CBC teachers should not be left solely to TSC as the process was very critical.
He said the training will help the teachers understand the curriculum design which will eventually help in lessons plan and preparation. The CEC disclosed that 2000 CBC handbooks for PP1 and PP2 were ready for distribution to all the public ECDE centres after the completion of the trainings.
After the training, Kiuna said, ECDE teachers were expected to shift from the traditional mode of teaching where the teacher stands in front of the class and lectures to the teacher joining learner groups and holding discussions.
The CEC noted that the training will be continuous and sustained to ensure it was a way of life for ECDE teachers adding that with their knowledge, experiences and competencies, teachers are central to curriculum development and implementation efforts.
The training of the ECDE teachers have been going on in all the 11 sub-counties with 48 teachers from Mosop ward in Rongai sub-county being the latest group to undergo the training. The training was conducted in Gilgil last week and continues next week in Nakuru West sub-county.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) regulations provide that all teachers must be compliant with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to impact knowledge and skills to learners. The administration has been training the ECDE teachers on CBC to ensure full implementation of the curriculum as per the KICD requirements.
The Constitution stipulates that basic education (ECDE included) be free and compulsory while the Education Act 2013 mandates respective county governments to implement the right of every child to free and compulsory pre-school education.
By Esther Mwangi and Elizabeth Simiyu
