Governors have appealed to the government to start giving unconditional grants to counties to help fund projects in Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) and vocational training facilities.
Speaking on behalf of the Council of Governors (CoG) in a local TV show, the education committee Chair Dr Erick Mutai, who is the Kericho County Governor, said many ECDEs have no infrastructure and there is need for the national government to finance them.
While appreciating praise from Kenyans for the notable and unchallengeable successes in the management of the sub-sector, the governor said ECDEs have suffered due to stringent rules and regulations limiting budgetary allocations.
“County governments need to be innovative in the ways they managed their ECDE funds to avoid queries from the Controller of Budget while at the same time identifying local ways to fund infrastructure, school feeding programmes and teachers’ salaries,” Mutai said.
The governor agreed with trade unions representing teachers and Kenyans in general that more discussions on ECDE regulations and funding are required to rescue the sector from the present crisis.
He challenged the government to consider reviewing funding rules to allocate more to ECDEs, noting that although the sector was devolved, it was not followed up with budgetary allocations.
Murang’a Deputy Governor Stephen Munania, while contributing to the debate, urged the national government to ensure that the entire education sector is managed as one entity, with funding covering education right from ECDE to university.
“County governments continue to struggle and suffer criticism for failure to hire adequate teachers and improve facilities in the centres due to controls from the Controller of Budget on funding of ECDEs,” he added.
Trade unionist Lawrence Otunga lamented the poor pay for ECDE teachers, revealing that majority of the trainers earning between Ksh7,000 and Ksh10,000.
“How can some teachers who are university graduates continue earning Ksh10,000 yet they are hired on permanent basis?” wondered Otunga.
He called for dialogue at all levels of government to ensure the ECDE sector is not undermined by wrangles.
By Robert Nyagah
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