By Rugendo Antony
Worth Noting:
- The schemes of service which were compiled by the Council of governors (CoG), the teachers service Commission (TSC) and the ministry of education was submitted to the salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for evaluation and grading.
- For years the bone of contention has been the remuneration and clear roles for ECDE teachers. Currently the highest paid ECDE teacher in a public school earns Sh 43,800 per month while they earn Sh 7,500 monthly.
- Currently ECDE teachers are employed by County governments which pay varying salaries. Most counties employ teachers on contract with poor pay of less than Sh 12,000 monthly.
Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi has unveiled plans to increase salary for Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers in the County in a bid to improve their lives.
Kiraitu’s statement comes as ECDE teachers complain over poor salaries.
ECDE teachers in Meru earn around Sh 16,000 monthly despite their academic qualification.
Speaking during the issuance of County enhancement retention fund (bursaries) worth Sh 129.8 Million and ECDE KLB books, Kiraitu said his government will allocate additional funds during formulation of upcoming budget in payment of higher salaries for the ECDE teacher.
“Let me believe that the MCAs will not be on our necks if we slash funds meant for the roads to increase your salary,” Kiraitu said.
The Meru governor lamented over low allocation of funds to the Counties by the national treasury noting that this has thwarted projects such as paying better salaries to teachers.
“If the national government would add the funds disbursed to Counties to about 35% I would not shy from paying you even Sh 50,000 that you are asking for,” Kiraitu said.
He called on the teachers to vote for a presidential candidate who will advocate for additional funds to the Counties.
Meru Deputy Governor Titus Ntuchiu lambasted the national treasury for delay on disbursement of funds to the Counties noting that this has forced the County to seek for loans from the bank to pay salaries.
Ntuchiu said the ECDE teachers play a crucial role in molding learners at a critical age and hence need better pay.
The Meru Deputy Governor said the move to improve the status of ECDE teachers is aimed at stabilizing early learning and setting a strong base for children’s education.
He additionally noted that the County government has managed to build over 290 ECDE classrooms across the County.
He further added that Meru County was among the Counties that agreed to implement ECDE schemes of service (SoS) for teachers.
Ntuchiu noted that the Meru County agreed to allocate more resources in the financial year 2022/2023 for implementing the schemes of services as per the resolution with the Council of governors.
The schemes of service which were compiled by the Council of governors (CoG), the teachers service Commission (TSC) and the ministry of education was submitted to the salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for evaluation and grading.
For years the bone of contention has been the remuneration and clear roles for ECDE teachers. Currently the highest paid ECDE teacher in a public school earns Sh 43,800 per month while they earn Sh 7,500 monthly.
Currently ECDE teachers are employed by County governments which pay varying salaries. Most counties employ teachers on contract with poor pay of less than Sh 12,000 monthly.
Schemes of services will see the salaries of ECDE teachers harmonized countrywide.
Despite this Meru fall under 34 counties that were last year cited for breaking the law requiring that state agencies keep the wage bill below 35 per cent of their revenue.
The devolved units spent more than 35 per cent of their total actual revenue on wages and benefits for employees in the financial year 2020-21.
The Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015, require that county governments’ wage bill shall not breach the set caps.
It is yet to be seen if the Meru County government will increase the salaries of its ECDE teachers.
In 2019 Meru County government in collaboration with the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) saw 1534 ECDE teachers across the County graduate, following training on Value addition for the growth and sustainability of early childhood learning Education.
The training covered different modules in the preparation of the learning materials; identification of learners with special needs, pedagogical skills, linking KLB books to the New Competence based Curriculum, CBC implementation as well as personal growth.
Suleiman Mbatiah 
James Wakahiu