County governments will now be responsible for hiring Early Childhood and Development Education (ECDE) teachers, while the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will pay their salaries and allowances.
If incorporated into the final report and approved by stakeholders, each nursery school child will receive Sh1,170 from the government each year.
This follows a proposal by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER), which advocated a variety of education reforms that were eventually submitted to President William Ruto for approval.
According to the education taskforce, counties would only employ ECDE teachers, but the obligation to pay them will fall under TSC beginning in January 2024.
The National Treasury will release a budget for the Counties to employ teachers and another for TSC to pay their salaries.
ECDE teachers with a Diploma will be assigned to job group C1, while those with a Certificate will be assigned to job group B5.
Those with a Diploma will earn a monthly basic salary ranging from sh. 27,195 in the minimum to sh. 33,994 in the maximum.
They will be eligible for a house allowance of Sh. 4,200 (for those in other regions), a commuter allowance of Sh. 4,000, and a leave allowance (given once a year) of Sh. 4,000.
Those residing in hardship zones would also receive a monthly hardship stipend of Sh. 6,600.
The ECDE certificate and diploma teachers will also have comprehensive medical coverage, allowing them to get quality medical care at all certified medical facilities across the country.
Only a few county governments currently employ ECDE teachers on a permanent and pensionable basis.
Many have hired them on a contract with a low salary and referred to them as “caregivers.”
The Council of Governors proposed hiring ECDE teachers on permanent contracts and paying them sh24387, sh34395, and sh46,494 per year, although this is not occurring in most counties.
The counties take advantage of teachers by paying them cheap, inconsistent salaries.
This will be the second attempt to shift ECDE teacher employment to TSC after the first was foiled by the Labour and Relations Court.
The constitution requires TSC to register trained teachers as well as recruit, hire, and assign those registered to any public school or institution.
However, Schedule 4 of the constitution specifies pre-primary and vocational education as the responsibility of county governments.
County governments are in charge of pre-primary education and childcare facilities, including teacher recruitment.
The majority of ECDE teachers, however, want to be removed from the county payroll because they believe it is discriminatory and unpredictable.
Once the idea is implemented, the team proposes a change in the role of the TSC in overseeing the ECDE teachers.
Current ECDE teacher salary in each county.
1. Uasin Gishu County
Untrained 23,000/-
Certificate 31,000/-
Diploma 35,000/-
Degree 55,000/-
2. Kakamega County
Certificate 23,000/-
Diploma 25,000/-
Degree 30,000/-
3. Garissa County
Certificate 45,000/-
Diploma 67,000/-
Degree Not applied
4. Kericho County
Certficate 26,000/-
Diploma 36,000/-
Degree 48,000/-
5. Homa Bay County
Certficate 15,000/-
Diploma 23,000/-
Degree Not applied
6. Kitui County
Certficate 27,000/-
Diploma 32,000/-
Degree 50,000/-
7. Nyamira County
Certificate 15,000/-
Diploma 18,000/-
Degree Not applied
8. Narok County
Certficate 27,000/-
Diploam 33,000/-
Degree Not applied
9. Bomet County
Certificate 13,000/-
Diploma 16,000/-
Degree 21,000/-
10. Marsabit County
Certificate 28,500/-
Diploma 36,000/-
Degree 50,000/-
11. Kajiado County
Certificate 32,000/-
Diploma 36,000/-
Degree Not applied
12. Nandi County
Certificate 12,000/-
Diploma 15,000/-
Degree Not applied
13. West Pokot County
Certificate 12,000/-
Diploma 14,000/-
Degree 22,000/-
