Devolving Early Childhood Development Education in Kenya: Policy Challenges and Opportunities.

Abstract

Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) is the bedrock and foundation of all learning in the life of any child. There is a very close relationship between Early Childhood Education and schooling completion rates. It’s said that a child who goes through ECD learning successfully has higher chances of successfully going through primary and secondary education. The importance of ECDE as key milestone in the development of a personality cannot be gainsaid. With the advent of the implementation of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), the devolution process heralded the devolution of pre-school among other devolved functions of the county governments. This paper is set to examine the policy and planning issues arising out of the devolution process. The paper will examine the importance of investing in ECDE as a county and the national objectives of ECDE as a yardstick of implementation. The paper will highlight the basic principles of the ECDE policy framework in Kenya. The paper will then delve into the policy challenges of devolving ECDE to the county governments. The paper will also take a glimpse into the opportunities that have go with the devolution of ECDE services to counties. The paper will seek to conclude that when the challenges bedeviling devolution of the ECDE sub-sector will be overcome, the opportunities touch on the betterment of almost all households in rural and urban Kenya.