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Kenya
makes great strides in early childhood education
By David Aduda,
Nation Newspapers, Nairobi, Kenya |
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 Although
Kenya's efforts towards achieving education for all goal by
the 2000 is proving untenable, there is every evidence that
major strides have been made to boost enrolment and participation
levels. |
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One
sector that has registered great achievement is the early childhood
education; a fact attributed to collective efforts by the government,
United Nations agencies, local and international non-governmental
organisations. |
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According
to the permanent secretary in the ministry of education, Mr
Wilfred Kimalat, the number of children enrolled in the ECD
centres has risen by 32 per cent in the last eight years. Similarly,
the number of ECD centres increased from 16,329 in 1990 to 23,977
in 1998 with a corresponding increase in the teaching force.
So, while there were only 6,213 pre-school teachers in 1990,
to date the number stands at 37,752, out of whom 16,000 are
trained. |
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The
improvement in enrolment, though not yet 50 per cent of all
eligible pupils as targeted by EFA, is commendable in the
region.
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"The
progress that has been achieved in this sub-sector still remains
the highest amongst other African countries," says Mr Kimalat,
adding that the greatest success has been witnessed in the pre-school
teacher training programme. |
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Basically,
the training of pre-school teachers is carried out at regional
level by District Centres for Early Childhood Education (DICESEs).
The two-year inservice training targets to equip teachers with
knowledge and skills that meet the children's intellectual,
physical, social, emotional as well as spiritual needs. |
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The
programmes for the DICESEs are developed at the National Centre
for Early Childhood Education, which is based at the Kenya Institute
of Education in Nairobi. |
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Additionally,
there is an Islamic Integrated Education Course, which is a
special programme for those who teach in Islamic schools. Started
in 1994, the course for "Maalims' (teachers) integrates formal
education and Islamic teaching. The teachers eventually teach
in the Muslim schools commonly referred to as Madrasas and Dugsis. |
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Other
than these, there are several training programmes managed by
different organisations like the Kindergarten Headmistresses
Association, the Child Developer Programme, among others. |
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Top
calibre teachers for the pre-schools are trained at Kenyatta
University, the country's leading training institution for educationists,
which has been offering a bachelors degree in early childhood
since 1995. |
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The
achievements made in the early education sector are largely
attributed to the close partnership that exists between the
government, parents, donors and communities. So, whereas the
government provides a co-ordination role, the parents and communities
are left to make decisions on the kind of programmes they want.
And the donors only come in to provide funds and logistical
support. |
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The
long and short of it is that the communities claim ownership
over the ECD centres, thus they are ready to take responsibility
and manage the institutions themselves. They are willing to
send their children to the centres, provide some money when
required and even provide their labour during the construction
of classes. |
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As
it were, the aim of pre-school education is to socialise children
and prepare them for entry into the formal education. |
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According
to Mrs Mary Njoroge, the co-ordinator of the ECD programmes
in Kenya. "It has been noted that good foundation during the
formative period of a child will normally result to increased
achievement in primary education." |
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Currently,
the Kenya government is running a multi-dollar ECD project,
which is funded by the World Bank at a cost of US$35.1 million.
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The
five year project has five components namely: improved teacher
performance; community capacity building and mobilisation; community
support grant and transition from pre-school to primary schools. |
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Despite
the achievements made so far in early childhood education in
Kenya, there are some teething problems that have to be ironed
out. Chief among these is funding. |
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Since
the government's overall expenditure on education has been declining
in recent years, non-priority areas like early childhood education
have had their budgets whittled down by a bigger percentage. |
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Another
problem facing the sector is quality of education. Whereas many
teachers have been trained so that they are able to offer quality
education, there is a still a big percentage of untrained staff.
Added to the fact that the teachers are generally poorly paid
their performance sometimes falls below expectation. |
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As
it were, the aim of pre-school education is to socialise children
and prepare them for entry into the formal education. |
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Further,
there are disparities in enrolment, especially in terms of regions,
with the marginal areas in the northern frontiers of the country
registering low participation rates compared to other areas. |
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Overall,
Kenya stands out in the region as a success story in regard
to early childhood education. If the pace is maintained and
enhanced, then the new century will see half of the country's
children aged between 0-5 get access to pre-school education. |
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