Hillary Muhalya highlights the silent struggles of ECDE teachers in Kenya as they grapple with low pay, inequality, and uncertainty amid ongoing court battles.
Before a child ever reads a sentence, before they ever write a word, before they ever dream of becoming anything, there is an ECDE teacher. Standing at the very beginning of the education journey, shaping everything that follows, yet standing at the very edge of recognition. In Kenya today, the foundation of learning is strong in classrooms—but shaken in dignity, fractured in policy, and entangled in politics, court battles, and broken promises. ECDE teachers are not just educators; they are the first builders of a nation’s future. Yet they remain among its most forgotten workers.
The issue is not new. It has lingered for years like an open wound that refuses to heal. A recent report presented by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to the Senate once again brought to light the uncomfortable truth: the implementation of ECDE teachers’ salary harmonisation remains deeply flawed. While policies exist on paper, the reality on the ground tells a different story—one of inconsistency, neglect, and persistent inequality.
Thousands of ECDE teachers across counties continue to earn wages that do not reflect the weight of their responsibility. Many still receive low salaries, and in some cases, no structured allowances at all. This is despite their critical role in laying the academic and emotional foundation of children aged between three and six years. The report painted a picture not of progress, but of stalled promises and fragmented implementation.
Across the country, ECDE classrooms are filled every morning with colour, song, and innocence. But behind that vibrant learning environment stands a teacher battling personal financial strain. Rent arrears, unpaid bills, and lack of job security have become silent companions in their professional journey, making teaching both a calling and a daily struggle for survival.
The SRC findings point to a deeper structural challenge. Devolution, while empowering counties to manage ECDE education, has also created disparities in remuneration. Some counties have made efforts to improve pay structures, while others have lagged behind significantly. This uneven approach has resulted in a system in which an ECDE teacher’s salary depends more on geography than on qualifications or workload.
What emerges is a profession caught between passion and survival. ECDE teachers are trained, certified, and expected to deliver foundational education that determines a child’s future learning trajectory. Yet the system continues to treat them as peripheral actors rather than core professionals in education development. The contradiction is both striking and painful.
The Senate’s continued scrutiny of the SRC report signals renewed concern at the national level. Lawmakers have increasingly questioned why harmonisation of ECDE salaries remains unresolved despite years of discussion, policy frameworks, and budgetary allocations. The gap between intention and execution continues to widen, leaving teachers in prolonged uncertainty.
At the heart of the matter lies a question of value. How does a nation measure the worth of those who teach its youngest citizens? ECDE teachers do not merely supervise play; they introduce literacy, numeracy, discipline, and emotional intelligence. They are the first architects of a child’s educational journey, shaping how learners perceive school, learning, and themselves.
Yet despite this, many ECDE educators feel invisible in national conversations about education reform. Their concerns are often overshadowed by debates on secondary and university education, leaving early learning at the margins. This neglect has long-term consequences, as the foundation of education determines the strength of the entire system.
The SRC report also highlights the issue of allowances—or lack thereof. Many ECDE teachers are not entitled to structured benefits such as housing, medical cover enhancements, or hardship allowances that are common in other teaching cadres. This disparity deepens frustration and creates a sense of professional imbalance within the education sector.
In several counties, teachers report delays in salary adjustments even after policy announcements. Others note inconsistencies in job grading systems, where promotion pathways remain unclear or poorly implemented. The result is a workforce that feels trapped in a cycle of stagnation, despite years of service and experience.
But beyond numbers and reports lies a deeper human story. ECDE teachers are often deeply committed individuals who remain in the profession not for financial reward but out of passion. They understand the transformative power of early childhood education. Yet passion alone cannot sustain livelihoods indefinitely.
The consequences of neglecting this cadre are far-reaching. When ECDE teachers are demotivated, the quality of foundational learning suffers. When foundational learning suffers, the entire education pipeline is weakened. Literacy challenges, poor numeracy skills, and long-term academic struggles often trace back to these early years.
Stakeholders have repeatedly called for full implementation of salary harmonisation policies. The goal is simple: to ensure fairness, consistency, and dignity for all ECDE teachers regardless of county boundaries. However, implementation has remained slow, hindered by budget constraints, differences in policy interpretation, and administrative delays.
The SRC’s intervention, therefore, serves as both a reminder and a warning: commitments were made, but failure to implement them continues to erode trust within the education sector. Teachers are watching, and patience is wearing thin.
Yet even as this policy struggle continues, another deeper reality continues to shape the ECDE landscape. County governments insist on retaining ECDE management under devolved authority, arguing that early childhood education is firmly a county function. While constitutionally grounded, this position has created fragmented systems where standards vary widely from one county to another.
In practice, ECDE teachers now operate under unequal systems. One county may improve salaries and conditions, another may delay adjustments indefinitely, while another may interpret guidelines differently altogether. The result is not just inequality—it is institutionalised disparity.
Over time, a troubling perception has also taken root. In many regions, the payment of ECDE teachers is increasingly viewed not as a guaranteed employment right, but as a discretionary privilege extended at the goodwill of county administrations. In some cases, ECDE welfare has also been absorbed into political cycles, where promises of salary increases, confirmations, and better terms become campaign talking points during elections, only to fade once political momentum shifts. This has deepened mistrust and reinforced a sense that teacher welfare is often used as a political tool rather than treated as a permanent professional guarantee.
At the same time, court battles involving ECDE employment structures have added another layer of uncertainty. Counties such as Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Mombasa, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu, Machakos, Homa Bay, and West Pokot have featured in disputes concerning payroll management, employment terms, job grading, and the interpretation of devolved functions.
These legal disputes have not remained confined to courtrooms. Their effects ripple into classrooms, payroll offices, and county administrations. In many instances, ongoing litigation has been used—directly or indirectly—to delay implementation of ECDE salary reforms. Where legal clarity is absent, administrative caution takes over, leaving teachers waiting.
As a result, ECDE reform is no longer driven solely by policy or governance—it is also shaped by litigation timelines. Progress is frequently paused as counties await court outcomes or legal interpretations, making education reform a process shaped by judicial uncertainty.
READ ALSO: Frustrated West Pokot ECDE teachers move to Court seeking salary review
And so the contradiction deepens. Governments speak of devolution and empowerment, while teachers speak of stability, dignity, and fairness. Between these narratives lies a profession that continues to serve relentlessly, even as the systems around it remain unsettled.
And so the truth remains heavy and unavoidable: Kenya cannot build doctors, engineers, leaders, and innovators on a foundation where the very first teachers are uncertain, underpaid, and unheard. ECDE educators continue to show up every morning—not because the system has secured them, but because children still need them. They teach through inequality, serve through delay, and endure through silence while courts deliberate, counties differ, and promises shift with political winds. But no nation can permanently ignore its foundation without weakening everything built upon it. Until ECDE teachers are treated not as a privilege to be granted, not as a campaign promise to be spoken, not as a legal dispute to be delayed—but as essential professionals fully protected, fully harmonised, and fully valued—then Kenya’s education story will remain powerful in vision, but painful in reality.
By Hillary Muhalya
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