Presented by Juliah Wanjiku Nduati c/o KNAP

IntroductionWhat is Kenya National Association of Parents

(KNAP)KNAP is a civil society organization in education

sector which has been in existence since 1999.The organization has now been recognized legally

under Schedule III of the new Basic Education Act 2012.

Our KEY objective is to critically analyze all educational policies in the country with a view of identifying the missing gaps and in turn lobby the government either to implement , ammend , shift or abandon a particular policy.

Intro…The organization has over 15ooo affiliate

schools with a countrywide membership of over 3.2 million members.

Our priorities as KNAPOur main concern as parents representatives

revolves around EFA goal 1 that focuses on expansion of early childhood care and education.

THE CHALLENGES FACING EFA1 FROM PARENTS’ perspective

Inadequate funding- the government gives very little amount of money to our ECD centers thus making parents to continue funding the program from their own resources.

Inadequate funding has seen the private sector capitalize on ECD education and this compromises the quality offered at the ECD centers.

The Challenges Inadequate training of ECD teachers We do not have full time teacher training colleges

for ECD teachers, Majority enroll in school based training and this means their training is shallow.

Consequently, these implies that the ECD teachers are not adequately prepared to handle ECD curriculum

Curriculum… Even after EFA it took the government more than 7 years until 2008 when it developed a national curriculum for ECD .

Challenges cont…The curriculum does not address the needs of

young learners , it does not shape the children but make them appear like robots.

We need a curriculum that is addressing the needs of the child

Uwezo research in 2010 supported this hypothesis that the competency skills of children in ECD centers is wanting.

Why Parents are concernedTherefore, research is necessary to establish

how many teachers have the necessary skills, and this way the parents will be assured that their young children are attaining quality education.

The challenge of ECD teachers is that most do not enroll in full time teacher training colleges.

Why cont…As parents we would like researchers to look

into teacher training colleges.The data collected can advise the

government on how to increase teacher training colleges and this will ensure that ECD teachers are equipped with the necessary skills to promote learning.

Expansion impossible if?Concerning expansion of early childhood care

and education we cannot expand when over 2.3 million children in ECD cannot access government granting.

Why? Education in Kenya is not free at all as parents especially in pre-primary are required to pay high fees for their children to be enrolled in ECD centers.

Cont…Research shows that enrollment in primary is

approximately 110% while that of ECD is 60%. Why???Most parents opt to keep their children at

home until they attain the age of joining primary schools.

The outcome here is obvious that parents are enrolling illiterate children in primary schools since they cannot afford the high fees in ECD centers.

Why we are lagging behind in EFA goalsApparently we lack clear laws to address the

EFA goal 2 that seek to provide free and compulsory primary education for all.

The reality on the ground is that parents are still paying money for their children to achieve basic education(basic education being; pre, primary and secondary)

Perhaps now that we are in a discussion KNAP can look at ways in which it can mobilize parents to actively participate in the education of their children (Illiteracy?)

Cont…

END, THANK YOU!Juliah.nduati@gmail.com