In a bid to enhance Early Childhood Education in Makueni County, Executive Member for Education, Elizabeth Muli announced a conversion of 453 Early Childhood Development Education teachers to permanent and pensionable terms. The second cohort involves 453 teachers after the first one of 497 who were similarly employed on permanent terms.
Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior challenged the ECDE teachers in his compound to lifelong learning, which eventually opens ways for career growth. He encouraged them to be pursuing further education so that, with emerging opportunities, they could be promoted. The governor expressed confidence in the teachers, saying their dedication and professionalism are evident in the impressive performance of ECDE learners.
He assured the teachers that they were esteemed government employees, and therefore they should take pride in their jobs and execute their duties with diligence. He emphasized the need to provide adequate remuneration to teachers both at the national and county level, and understand the psychology of young learners.
He expressed his plans for the modernization of the learning environment with a view to replacing blackboards, which were having negative implications for the health of learners and teachers with whiteboards in ECDE centers. He said that he appreciated the patience of teachers, who since 2014 have been bearing financial hardships, which he was pleased to see improve with their conversion to permanent terms.
Of the 453 newly converted teachers, 372 have diplomas while 70 others have certificates. Ten other teachers will be converted next week following a delay in making their applications. According to Elizabeth Muli, ECDE centers and their teachers across the county have been equipped with necessary learning materials and child-friendly classrooms have also been created.
One of the newly converted tutors, Jennifer Julius from Kalameni ECDE Centre, appreciated the county government support and asserted that improved employment status would indeed have positive impacts on change in their lives and professional duties.