Pressure mounts on County Governments to allow TSC hire ECDE teachers

Teachers have continued to mount pressure on county governments to allow the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to hire educators serving at Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres across the country.

In the latest development, the ECDE teachers want Governors to cede powers of recruitment of educators at the pre-schools to the TSC as it is the body qualified in managing all the teaching force in the country.

The Kenya Union for Pre-Primary Education Teachers (KUNOPPET) Bomet Branch Chairperson Richard Chebusit argues that the move will enable them to get the privileges they have missed over the years under the employment of county governments.

“Counties should henceforth surrender the duty of hiring ECDE teachers to TSC which is mandated to carry out the work. Allowing TSC to take over will enable teachers get properly managed and remunerated,” he said.

He revealed that they had submitted their proposal to the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms in October 2022 at Tenwek High School and it was good the National Government had taken note of their concerns.

Chebusit lauded Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu for the plan to transfer ECDE to the Ministry of Education (MoE), adding that Article 237 of the constitution consequently  gives TSC powers to hire all trained teachers including teachers at pre-primary institutions.

“As ECDE teachers, we laud Education CS Ezekiel Machogu for being considerate to us. Article 237 of the constitution gives TSC powers to hire all trained teachers, pre-primary teachers included,” added Chebusit.

The union further demanded the immediate payment of salaries for the ECDE teachers which has delayed, failure to which teachers will boycott the opening of schools next week and camp outside Governor Hillary Barchok’s office until they are paid.

Records indicate the county spends sh 47 million monthly on the ECDE teachers’ salaries.

-By Evans Lang’at