Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru has announced the absorption of all the county’s Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.
Waiguru said that the new scheme will benefit all the 420 teachers who have been serving under three years’ contract terms.
In an address presented by the County Executive Committee Member for Education, James Kinyua Mutugi to the ECDE teachers assembled at Kaitheri Youth Polytechnic on Tuesday, Waiguru said that the new scheme will take effect from this month-July.
She said that it will see teachers’ salaries increase from as low as Sh15,000 up to Sh55,000 per month, depending on the level at which an individual teacher has been admitted.
ECDE Teachers Certificate holders will enter at Job Group G, Diploma holders will enter at Job Group H while degree holders will enter at Job Group K.
To implement the scheme, the county government has this financial year set aside an additional Sh106 million to go into the payment of salaries under the new scheme.
This is in addition to the Sh 72 million budget that has been there before.
The county government will also pay for the teachers’ retirement benefits through the County Pension Fund.
Waiguru said that the move will not only empower the teachers and facilitate their personal growth but will also motivate them to offer the best services to about 15,000 learners across the county.
She said that over the past five years, her administration has supported the 198 ECDE centres through the improvement of infrastructure and distribution of learning and teaching materials.
“Survey has shown that our continued investment in the ECDE sector has resulted in an increase in enrollment in our centres as some parents who would previously enrol their children in private centres are now settling for public ones.” She said.
On his part, CEC Mutugi encouraged the teachers to advance their academic qualifications since the new scheme has room for promotion.
The teachers could not hide their joy and thanked the governor for the consideration saying that it came as a great relief to them.
“We want to thank Governor Waiguru for looking into our plight and restoring the dignity of an ECDE teacher and this is the true meaning of the bottom-up empowerment model,” Said, Mrs Winnie Thiaka, a teacher at Kimbimbi ECDE centre.
The County Executive Committee member for lands, Rev. Peter Kanjobe, said that the county government will be issuing all the public primary schools with title deeds to ensure that their lands were secured from grabbers.
