The scaling-up of early childhood development provision in Kenya since independence

Lynette Okengo, ECD consultant based in Kenya
Since independence in 1963, Kenya has markedly expanded services for young children. Kenya is now recognised as a leader in ECD in sub-Saharan Africa, known for its large-scale national ECD programme that caters for a wide cross-section of children from different socio-economic, cultural and religious backgrounds. This article discusses four factors that were key in the process of scaling-up ECD provision nationally and identifies challenges that remain in ensuring quality at scale.
Formal ECD programmes were first established in Kenya during the colonial era, in the 1940s. Initially, access to services was limited to more affluent urban residents or those living on tea, coffee and sugar plantations. Even with the establishment of preschools in rural areas between 1952 and 1957, to cater for children whose parents were engaged in forced labour away from home (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST), 2005), access to services was still very limited.
Since Kenya gained independence in 1963, however, access to early learning and care services has expanded massively. From a low base, the numbers of children enrolled in centres leapt to over 800,000 in 1990, 1.1 million in 2000 and 1.7 million in 2008. The number of ECD centres shot up to 15,469 in 1990, 26,294 in 2000 and 37,954 in 2008. Kenya’s preschool gross enrolment ratio (GER) grew year on year from 2003 to 2008 (see Figure 1) to 60.2% (Ministry of Education (MoE), 2009), one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Although much still needs to be done to further improve quality in service delivery, the rapid scaling-up of Kenya’s ECD programme provides some lessons in this respect that would be useful in scaling-up programmes across the region.
Four factors stand out as the key catalysts in scaling-up ECD in Kenya since independence: community involvement and ownership; government involvement and support; the existence of a national decentralised training system; and strategic support by various development partners. This article will now consider each in turn.
1  Community involvement and ownership
The Swahili proverb ‘Mkono mmoja haulei mwana’ – translated as ‘one hand cannot nurse a child’, a parallel to West Africa’s Akan people’s age-old philosophy that it takes a village to raise a child – captures the socio-cultural philosophy that underlies the collective way in which early childhood care and education has been conceptualised, planned and implemented in Kenya since pre-colonial times. The mobilisation of resources for the establishment and support of community ECD centres since independence also reflects the joint self-help tradition commonly referred to as ‘harambee’, a Swahili word meaning ‘let us pull together’. The harambee philosophy was popularised by the first President of the Republic of Kenya, emblazoned on the coat of arms and on the currency, and embraced by communities across the nation. Along with Kenyans’ enthusiasm for educational opportunities in general, it provided great impetus to efforts to scale-up ECD provision.
Communities have always been involved in the establishment of ECD centres and community provision remains the largest form of ECD service provided today, comprising 70% (Republic of Kenya, 1998) of the total number of ECD centres nationwide. It is worth emphasising that the presence of these community-based ECD centres has made the most significant contribution to expanding access to services in rural communities, where most of them are located. Communities are responsible for identifying suitable locations to set up ECD centres, and mobilising human and material resources for construction and furnishing as well as development of play and learning materials. In addition, communities are involved in the identification of teachers and payment of their salaries, and are responsible for establishing management teams that oversee the running of centres. The critical role of community involvement in sustainability and relevance cannot be over-emphasised. In terms of maintaining quality, however, much still needs to be done to enhance the capacity of the community management teams to effectively carry out their responsibilities. The government has recognised this and embarked on a programme to sensitise communities on ECD centre management; currently, 11% of management committees have been trained.
2  Government involvement and support
Even with community involvement and ownership, large-scale implementation could not have been achieved without government involvement, which has grown over time. Impetus was provided by the successful implementation of a 10-year (1972–1982) Pre-school Education Project (PEP), supported by the Bernard van Leer Foundation (Moncrieff, 1993); Presidential Circular Number One in 1980; and reports by Gachathi and Kamunge (Republic of Kenya, 1976; 1988) that emphasised the importance of quality service provision.
The national ECD system established by the government is decentralised and, within the Ministry of Education, ECD coordination occurs at all levels of government. At the national level, coordination is located in three units:
•  the ECD unit of the Directorate of Basic Education, which is responsible for programme coordination, policy development, registration of centres, data collection and financing;
•  the ECD unit of the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards, which is responsible for inspection and supervision of ECD centres and training institutions, as well as the administration of examinations and certification for preschool teacher trainees; and
•  the ECD section in the Basic Education Division at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), which is responsible for curriculum development, training and research.
At the provincial level, the Provincial Director of Education coordinates all programmes including ECD. At the district level, it is the District Education Officer who co-ordinates all programmes, but with the support of a District Centre for Early Childhood Education (DICECE) officer who specifically oversees district ECD programming and, supported by other staff, is responsible for training, curriculum development and research. At the community level, most ECD centres have management committees that oversee daily management. Decentralisation of the ECD programme has played a critical role in enhanced accountability, sustained community participation and increased access to services by marginalised communities.
Government commitment has led to the inclusion of ECD as one of 23 investments in the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP), a sector-wide approach to planning that focuses on identified priorities developed through extensive consultation (Republic of Kenya, 2005). It has also led to leveraging of resources to finance community support grants, which have been disbursed to over 8000 marginalised and vulnerable communities to assist in the establishment of ECD centres. Although the ECD budget is still very low, the recent allocation of Ksh 387.7 million (about US$3.9 million) by the Minister of Finance (Republic of Kenya, 2011) is a significant increase over past allocations.

3  Decentralised training

A distinctive feature of the ECD programme in Kenyais the institutionalised and decentralised system of training. Prior to implementation of the PEP, various actors trained preschool teachers but the proportion of trained teachers was low. In addition, the training was unregulated and uncoordinated and there was no accreditation system. This situation changed with the establishment of the National Centre for Early Childhood Education (NACECE) in 1984 as a national ECD resource centre within the Kenya Institute of Education. NACECE was initially established with the support of the Bernard Leer Foundation and later expanded with the support of the World Bank (1997–2003). It is responsible for coordination of the national training programme and is involved in advocacy, establishing linkages and quality assurance (Republic of Kenya, 2006).

In Kenya, communities have always been involved in the establishment of ECD centres and community provision remains the largest form of ECD service provided today. Photo • Courtesy Emily Stanley

NACECE trainers conduct training for DICECE trainers, who are trained primary school teachers with 5 years’ teaching experience. This consists of a 9-month induction course that focuses on strengthening their knowledge and skills in ECD and includes three one-month residential sessions. DICECE trainers in turn train preschool teachers in their districts through a 2-year, in-service course in DICECE training centres, involving 810 contact hours, with teaching practice of 300 hours. It is estimated to take four school terms or six school holiday sessions (KIE, 2006). DICECE officers are also responsible for training other caregivers and ECD centre management teams. Expansion of this training programme has led to a rapid increase in the proportion of trained teachers, which can also be attributed to training programmes offered by private institutions as well as training by institutions of higher learning. Currently, 78,230 teachers are trained, comprising 70% of the total number of ECD teachers. In an effort to raise motivation and improve retention, the government plans to employ a large number of the teachers as from 2012.
4  Strategic support by various development partners
The story of scaling-up ECD inKenya would be incomplete without specific focus on the contribution of development partners. Much of what has been achieved in the ECD programme is attributable to the strategic financial and technical support of development partners that was targeted at ECD systems building. Notably, as mentioned earlier, the Bernard van Leer Foundation supported the design and implementation of PEP (1972–1982), which generated empirical evidence that led to the establishment of NACECE, the ECD system within the MoE, and the national training programme. The World Bank ECD project (1997–2003) also significantly strengthened the ECD system through the construction of conference facilities at NACECE; the staffing, equipping and capacity building of DICECEs; the expansion of training opportunities for preschool teachers and university students; strengthened community engagement through the training of ECD centre management teams and the provision of community support grants; the establishment of ECD centres in marginalised communities; the inclusion of health and nutrition into ECD; and strengthened partnership between government and other partners (World Bank, 1997). UNICEF and UNESCO have also played a critical role in policy development, strategic planning, high-level advocacy and the capacity strengthening of government officers at various levels of government. Worth mentioning is UNICEF’s role in supporting nationwide child and maternal health and education through various health initiatives, notably the Malezi Bora initiative (a Kiswahili phrase for good nurturing).
Various development partners have played a critical role in supporting the expansion of services to marginalised children through innovative programmes: UNICEF (the Rapid School Readiness Initiative and the Islamic Integrated Education Programme); USAid (Education for Marginalized Children in Kenya Program); Aga Khan Foundation (Madrassa Resource Centre); and several other NGOs. Although access to services is still low in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), these programmes have enabled greatly enhanced access to services by children and families in the Coast and North Eastern provinces of Kenya.
Future challenges
Together, these four factors have led to a great deal of progress in increasing access and strengthening governance as well as enhancing quality. On the last point, however, much more needs to be done. In particular, challenges include the need for:
• more concerted efforts to ensure equitable access to services by marginalised communities and children with special needs
•  strengthened coordination across government ministries, for enhanced integrated and holistic service delivery
•  establishment of national parent education programmes to support the development of children under 3 years of age
•  ensuring that all ECD practitioners are not only well trained but also well compensated for their services.