A consignment of learning materials valued at Ksh21 million has been allocated to more than 681 ECDE centers in the County Government of Kisumu. This followed the flagging off of the materials from by Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o from outside his office. Nyong’o said the items were for the current financial year that is coming to an end. Nyong’o said they have managed to give out such items annually with an estimated value of Ksh25 million since 2015. This includes “textbooks, pencils, marker pens, exercise books, sharpeners among others.”.
According to Governor Nyong’o, the county has some 44,251 learners to its credit: 22,081 girls and 22,440 boys. He revealed that 624 ECDE centers were domiciled in primary, with 57 as stand-alone.
Flanked by his deputy Dr. Mathew Owili, and the Executive in charge of Education John Awiti, Nyong’o says key pillars of ECDE include nutrition, good health, safety, protection, and responsive caregiving.
He added that the provision of such equipment ensures that, at the end of the day, learners get quality education and expressed commitment to strengthening ECDE to build a strong foundation for learners to tackle modern-day challenges.
He urged those entrusted with the distribution to ensure a high level of integrity, ensuring they reach earmarked institutions. He added that quality ECDE was important in realizing sustainable development goals and therefore, there was a call for prudent expenditure of resources allocated to the realization of those goals.
“The real essence of childhood education lies in nurturing the development of children, within a joyful child focused, playful and hands on learning atmosphere. It aims to equip children with the skills and experiences needed to thrive in the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) ” he mentioned, emphasizing that his administration will increase funding in this area to ensure that every child has access, to free, fair, inclusive and high quality Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE).