With a promise to make the miserable lives of ECDE teachers better, Kericho County has confirmed 1135 of them on permanent and pensionable (P&P) terms who will earn attractive salaries of upto Ksh49,000.
At the same time, the county government has instituted another level of employees at this basic education level – the Ward Education Supervisor.
They will be degree holders supervising ECDE activities in the thirty Wards.
The confirmed certificate holders will earn Ksh29,000 and those with Diploma qualifications will take home Ksh40,000 as their degree counterparts take the highest stipulated package home.
County governor Dr. Eric Mutai, speaking at the Moi Gardens in Kericho as he unveiled the packages, said ECDE teachers had for a long time worked under very unclear and unfair working environment, earning meagre salaries despite the very fundamental nature of their work.
He said in the newly promoted group were 613 Diploma, 483 certificate and 39 degree holders.
He promised that never again will ECDE teachers go for several months without pay, and not one will be watched with indifference as they offer free services as they have done in the past.
“The many sad stories and experiences shared by most of these teachers propelled me to take a vow … not just to listen but take action. I am happy that I graciously and unanimously received support from all the stakeholders, including my executive committee, MCAs, and the entire education family,” he said.
However, he was concerned that out of the total number confirmed, only 64 were men.
“There seems to be a misconception that ECDE is a women’s profession. This is a very respectable career and men must venture there,” he observed.
Those who graced the occasion, including his fellow governor Moses Badilisha of Nyandarua and Senator Aaron Cheruiyot, praised the governor for the bold move and asked the Council of Governors (CoG) to uniformly apply terms across all the 47 counties.
By Benedict Ngetich
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