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REPUBLIC OF KENYA

COUNTY ASSEMBLY OF LAIKIPIA

COMMITTEE OF EDUCATION AND ICT

VISIT OF ECD CENTRES IN OLMORAN WARD

8TH

OF NOVEMBER 2013

Report By The Committee Of Education And ICT

By Nicholas Kilanya and Edward Kirega

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Preface

This is a report by the committee on Education and ICT on a fact finding mission to the ECD

(Early Childhood Development) centres in Olmoran Ward. The visit by the Committee of

County Assembly of Laikipia travelled to meet with the teachers in the centres and have an

insight of their problems and challenges and what they need the County Government to

address on the ground.

The visit based on this report was done by the following members of the committee:-

Hon. Mwangi Maruga- Chairman

Hon. Dann Ndegwa- Member

Hon. Elizabeth Paraiton- Member

Edward Kirega- Committee Secretary

Nicholas Kilanya- Asst. Hansard Editor

The familiarisation and fact finding tour was led by Hon. Mwangi Maruga and was hosted by

Hon. Dann Ndegwa who is the area ward representative.

The report highlights the Events of the visit, the observations and the challenges highlighted

in the specified areas.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Committee on Education and ICT headed by the Hon. Mwangi Maruga planned for a

familiarisation tour of Early Childhood Development (ECD) schools in Olmoran Ward of

Laikipia so as to know the status of the schools in the county. This visit was also a fact

finding undertaking meant to give ideas to the committee on matters pertaining policies that

would make a positive impact on the county’s approach on ECD education.

The programme of the visit was scheduled for the committee to visit four ECD centres, one

polytechnic, and an ICT centre.

2.0 LARIAK ECD

The delegation kicked off the visit of the ECD Schools in Olmoran Ward by first visiting

Lariak Primary School which has an Early Childhood Centre (ECD).The delegation met with

the head teacher of the School Mr.

Peter Kariuki who welcomed the

delegation and introduced the ECD

teacher to the delegation

The teacher Mrs. Harriet Wambugu

thanked the committee for the visit

and took them to the wooden

classroom which accommodates 43

children instead of the 35 as per the

Educational standards.

2.1 Observations

Lariak area had two ECD centres which were Lariak Primary School ECD and Ririchua

which was branch of Lariak.

The Lariak ECD classroom is made

of a wooden structure secluded

from the main school.

The inside wall of the class is lined

with iron sheets to shield the

children from winds and cold.

The members of the committee

however commended on the

cleanliness and tidiness of the class

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which was organised for easy

teaching and comfort for the

children.

The class lacked charts for

aiding the children in learning

and has to make do with

makeshift displays to serve the

purpose.

2.2 Visit Review

Hon. Dann who is the ward representative of the area and a member of the committee

introduced the delegation. He explained that the aim of the visit was to give the committee an

insight of how the schools faired. He further

explained that ECD had been devolved by the

national Government to the County Government

and it is the duty of the County Government to

initiate changes and policies that will improve

ECD in the County.

He also emphasized on the social aspect of

childhood education which is the need for

extracurricular activities for the development of

the children. He told the head teacher that the

committee had planned to provide the schools

with footballs and swings so as to aide in their development.

Hon. Dann stated that there is also need to standardize amenities in all schools including the

acreage to allow the children to have ample space for their social activities.

2.3 Challenges

The Head teacher on his part thanked the

delegation for the visit and highlighted the

following setbacks experienced by the school:-

Most of schools infrastructure is

dilapidated and in bad condition which

needs to be addressed i.e. the ECD

classroom is old and made of wood which

poses a problem to children during the cold

and windy season.

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Mr. Kariuki expressed concern over the ECD teacher’s remuneration since she is not

being paid by the government and solely depended on how the parents pay for their

children which is not always forthcoming.

The head teacher afterwards led the delegation to the school’s state of the art computer lab.

2.4 LARIAK PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPUTER LAB

The teacher in-charge of the computer lab Mrs. Njoroge introduced herself and welcomed the

delegation to the computer lab.

She explained to the delegation that the computer lab has a total of 15 computers, 5 were

bought by the school, and the other 10 were acquired courtesy of sponsorship by the

Safaricom foundation.

The teacher explained that all classes have access to the computer lab through a programmed

time table so that each class has access to the computer lab once a week. She added that they

have 23 classes and each class has its chance to learn about computers.

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Mrs. Njoroge stated that there is

need to have an expert in

computers joining the school and

offering expertise on the field of

ICT.

Hon. Maruga was delighted at

the school’s efforts adding that

there is need for all schools to

have ICT facilities and to be

connected to the internet. He

explained that the mandate of the

committee was to give the ECD

schools first priority before they

proceeded to other factors such as ICT.

The delegation ended its visit at Lariak Primary School and proceeded to the next visit which

was Ririchua ECD centre.

3.0 RIRICHUA ECD

The committee led by Hon. Dann visited the second ECD centre which was still in Lariak

area of Olmoran ward close to the border with Rumuruti ward. Despite the expansiveness of

the ward, the roads were navigable and in good state which made the visits possible.

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3.1 Observation

The school is self standing and has a wooded classroom which accommodates a total

56 children from the surrounding

areas.

The school is in a good location

with a sizeable acreage for the

children to exploit and enjoy.

The committee visited the school

when the children were out on

recess; they appeared well cared

for and happy as they went about

their playful activities.

The inside of the classroom was

neat and tidy, on one corner was a water tank which was evidence of the level of

hygiene observed by the teacher in charge of the school.

The few number of desks was a clear sign of how the class was overcrowded by the

children.

3.2 Visit review

The delegation was welcomed by the teacher Mrs. Grace Wambui who was delighted of the

visit stating that she was hoping someone from the government would come and assess the

situation at the school.

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The teacher explained to the

delegation that the school was

overcrowded having a population of

56 children and urged the County

Government to address the matter

since there was a number of students

who needed to go to the schools.

Hon. Dann highlighted that the

committee was on a fact finding

mission in order to be able to address

the setback facing ECD centres in the

county.

He explained that the County Government was considering employment of teachers for the

ECD Centres adding that the existing teachers would be absorbed by the county government

and serve as employees alongside those who would be employed.

Hon. Maruga explained that the reason for the visit was to enable the committee to assess the

situation on the ground and what factors needed to be addressed before the devolved function

was fully implemented.

He also appreciated the health standards

observed in the school whereby the teacher

ensured that clean water was provided for the

children.

Hon. Maruga expressed the need to absorb the

existing ECD teachers into the system before

recruiting new staff. He added that the teachers

needed to improve the comfort of the teachers

in the schools since it was the most important

level of education.

The members of the committee emphasised on

the construction of new toilets for the school

which was critical for the children.

The committee concluded the visit and proceeded to the newly constructed Sipili Polytechnic

which was due to open its doors.

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4.0 SIPILI POLYTECHNIC

Members of the Committee at SIPILI POLYTECHNIC in Olmoran Ward

Upon arrival, the committee was welcomed by the manager of the polytechnic Mr. John

Ndumia who took the delegation on a tour of the school. He told the committee that the

school was a CDF funded project aimed at providing polytechnic education to the students in

the county.

He added that they were yet to kick off

their teaching programme and enrolment

of students which was scheduled for

January 2014.

Mr. Ndumia also explained to the

committee that the CDF managed to

construct 4 classrooms and 1 strong room

though there was still room for the set up

of other classes. He added that they still

needed equipment to be able to

accommodate the students once they were

enrolled.

He stated that they had 3 tailoring machines and a few masonry equipment. Ndumia

expressed the need for a government recruited teacher who would handle the syllabus and

train the students.

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5.0 NGARUA MAARIFA CENTRE

Hon. Dann Ndegwa who was leading the delegation decided to take the committee on a

detour visit of an ICT Centre called ALIN (Arid Lands Information Network) which he said

was the pride of Olmoran ward.

At the centre, Hon. Dann introduced the committee to the programme manager Mr. Bett

Kipsang. Hon. Dann explained to the committee that he was an old student of the centre

which offered free ICT training to the community and it was the only centre of its kind in the

whole of Laikipia.

5.1 Observations

Mr. Kipsang welcomed the committee to the centre and explained what ALIN was all about.

Ngarua Maarifa Centre was founded by ALIN in

the year 2006 in Laikipia and it covered

computer training, E-Government services,

Publications, Advisory Services and Community

Journalism Training which were all offered for

free.

He stated that ALIN is an international NGO

that facilitates information and knowledge

exchange to and between communities in Kenya,

Uganda, and Tanzania. He added that the

information activities focused on small scale

sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resources management and other

livelihood issues.

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Kipsang further explained that this

information was accessed through

community-based knowledge centres

through a range of channels that include

web portals, mobile platforms, workshops,

exchange visits and regular publications.

He explained that these services enabled

them to provide four classes per day which

saw them train over 1,200 people on basic

ICT skills.

He added that the goal of ALIN was to

provide modernised ICT services to the community and to offer services to farmers through

the internet services such as Soko Pepe which would enable them to market their products.

5.2 Challenges

Despite the positive impact that the centre had on the community, Mr. Kipsang pointed out

the following challenges:-

He explained that the donor funding that

was sustaining them had pulled out and

they were looking forward to having a

cost sharing partnership with the

government.

Lack of funds was forcing them to shift

to one of the containers in the vicinity to

cut on cost of paying rent.

They also needed the county government

to support them in carrying some of their

activities which were more logistical.

Kipsang also stated that there was still

the need to expand the facility and its

services to other parts of the county.

Only seven computers were available and they needed more since demand was on the

rise.

Hon. Dann explained that the reason for the visit was showcase the idea of the ICT centre to

the committee on education and ICT to allow them to have an idea of how to address this in

Laikipia County.

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6.0 MAHIGA PRIMARY SCHOOL

The committee arrived at the ECD centre of Mahiga primary school at Midday where they

were welcomed by the ECD teacher Mrs. Pauline Wangari Mwangi. The children had gone

out for lunch but had to be recalled to class in order to meet the committee.

6.1 Observations

The Mahiga Primary School ECD classroom is a wooden structure has a total of 54

students who were all privately sponsored by their parents.

Their teacher Mrs. Mwangi explained that so far 38 students were set to proceed to

class 1 after they did their examinations.

She however mulled over the overcrowding of the children since they did not have

enough desks to accommodate them forcing them to squeeze in the available space.

6.2 Visit review

Hon. Mwangi appreciated the teacher and

acknowledged the importance of the visit. He

expressed the importance of the recently devolved

ECD to the county government which gave them

the mandate and opportunity to improve on it and

make an impact.

He added that the ECD classes should be the

model classes since they are vulnerable to many

setbacks. He however noted that there was need to

improve the standards in the rural schools to enable

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them to actively compete with those in urban areas.

The school’s head teacher explained that the school needed the support of the County

Government in order to better the teaching environment for the children through improving

infrastructure in the school.

She also agreed that ECD Centres formed the foundation for the child which was imperative

for their development.

7.0 BONDENI SECONDARY SCHOOL

The committee afterwards headed to the last visit which was the ECD centre at Bondeni

primary school where they were welcomed by the Head teacher and the teachers in charge of

the ECD centre.

7.1 Observation

ECD Centre classroom at Bondeni Primary school was made of wood but was bigger

and more spacious than the previously visited classes.

This class has a total of 96 children which is more than the others.

The centre has two teachers to teach the children who are in baby class, nursery, and

pre- unit.

The class is well organised and

has desks that can accommodate

the population.

The school has ample space and

acreage to provide ample space for

the children to carry out their

extracurricular activities.

The ECD children seemed to

mingle well with the elder

children in the school.

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7.2 Visit review

The two ECD teachers Mrs. Mary Mwai and Mrs. Rebecca Wanjugu thanked the committee

for the visit and explained of the centres progress to the chair of the committee Hon. Mwangi

Maruga.

They expressed the need for the County Government aiding in the development of these

centres for the sake of the children.

7.3 Challenges

The head teacher of Bondeni Primary School Mr. Joseph Mwangi thanked the committee for

the visit and pointed some setbacks which they needed to be addressed:-

He pointed out the issue of remuneration of

the teachers who solely depended on the

payment made by the parents.

He explained that the school already has

two trained teachers and hoped that the

County Government will absorb them into

the system.

He complained about the over-population

of children in the ECD classes and

expressed the need to have more classes

built to accommodate the growing number

of pupils in the school.

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8.0 CONCLUSION

The committee concluded the one day visit of the ECD centres in Olmoran ward which was

set to be part of the committee’s fact finding mission. It was agreed that a report on the visit

would be made so as to allow the committee to relate to the issues pointed out during the visit

to the ECD centres in ward which would also be used to address those in other wards.

The members of the committee agreed that it was a fulfilling visit which gave them an insight

of the state of ECD Centres in the county. The belief of the committee is that ECD centres are

the most important level of Education which is of delicate nature and should be accorded the

necessary attention and support it deserves.

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