A study by three senior lecturers at the University of Nairobi has revealed that hundreds of children in private nursery schools and other ECDE institutions within Embu County study under unhealthy conditions.
The study by Dr. Andrew Riechi, Dr. Kamwitha Anastasia Muthanje and Dr. Ibrahim Khatete revealed that the ECDE centres, supervised by the county governments and public health departments, have been neglected and are dilapidated.
They found out that officials from the health department rarely visit the centres unless issues on the learners’ health come into the limelight.
They also noted that little to no consideration was put on the fact that the young learners have not developed enough to independently function.
“Our survey was done across baby care centres which are mostly home based and are considered a child’s first ever interaction with education. We found out that most of the centres have poor hygiene conditions and are overcrowded,” they argued.
The centres have poor lighting, poor air circulation and lack the necessary furniture. Most of the centres do not have ramps and rails for children with disabilities, lower door handles or any environmental adaptation for special needs children.
The researchers said there is need for education stakeholders to invest in physical facilities so as to increase the children’s participation in early childhood development and education classes.
A baseline survey carried out by the County Government of Embu gave the same conclusion as the researchers’ study.
The survey revealed that most ECDE centers had poor infrastructure for tuition and sanitation as well as inadequate playing and sleeping facilities.
It further revealed that most learners missed school because of illnesses probably caused by poor sanitation, inadequate classrooms that result in poor performance and low competency levels.
By Robert Nyagah
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