Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Mr. Wilson Sossion says plans are underway to registers all Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Mr. Sossion was speaking in Bomet town on Sunday during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County Government and Early Childhood Education Development (ECDE) teachers.
The MOU will see 1, 000 ECDE teachers under Bomet County Government become union members for the first time. The same was expected to be rolled out between the union and other counties.
Mr. Sossion said that KNUT had amended its constitution to accommodate ECDE teachers in its leadership structure.
He said ECDE teachers have suffered for many years as a result of neglect by the national government and called on TSC to ensure that all ECDE teachers who have been in employment were registered irrespective of their training.
The agreement was signed by Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, Bomet County Secretary Jonathan Soi, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion, the union’s national vice chairman Wycliffe Omuchei under the guidance of legal officers – Erick Korir (Bomet County) and Haroun Kiplangat Ng’eno (KNUT).
KNUT’s assistant national Treasurer Ali Abdi Hussein, Bomet branch Secretary Malel Langat and NEC member Emily Kirui witnessed the signing of the agreement at the Centre for Devolved Governance (CDG) in Bomet town .
The Secretary General said in 2005, through an education sessional paper tabled in the National Assembly, the Government agreed to mainstream ECDE by the year 2010 but TSC could not allow it to happen.
Governor Ruto said infrastructural development in schools and technical institutions should be devolved from the National Government to counties as a matter of urgency.
He said the devolved units understood better the needs of the learning institutions at the grassroots hence they could best manage the facilities as opposed to their being managed from Nairobi.