School going children in Early Childhood Development Education centres (ECDEs) in Nyeri county will soon start receiving milk at least twice a week, Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga has announced.

According to Kahiga, the Sh 49 million programme will be rolled out before the end of this year and is set to increase attendance and enrollment to the schools.

Additionally, the governor said this will help improve the growth and development of the young learners as well as create a ready market for the county’s dairy industry.

‘Before the end of the year, I want to be launching the school milk programme. We must have our little children receive milk at least twice every week. As a county we are facing the challenge of non-communicable diseases and I think it is important we start them at that young age so that the kids can get the right nutrients,’ he said.

Kahiga said the programme will be included in this year’s supplementary budget, where the executive hopes to have between Sh 49 million and 50 million for the programme before it is rooted in every county budget for the next four fiscal years.

‘This must be looked into so that as we deliver bursaries for the other learners, we must also have a programme for these kids,’ he said.

Kahiga was speaking when he flagged off stationery and learning equipment worth Sh 4.2 million for the ECDEs. The equipment included chairs, tables, chalks, pencils, pens, exercise books and manila papers. Also present during the ceremony were County Executive Committee member in charge of education, Margaret Macharia, and the department’s chief office, James Kiretai and a host of ECDE teachers.

The 150 chairs for the teachers were made by the Karatina Vocational Training College(VTC), while the 150 tables were put together by Nairutia VTC, with Kahiga reiterating his commitment to continuous improvement of the ECDE centres county.

‘When we don’t make our teachers comfortable, then we have a challenge and we may not have them delivering as expected,150 tables and 150 chairs is a good start. That means we have 650 to go because we have 800 teachers who we must make sure are in a good working environment,’ said the governor.

Last year, the county promoted more than 800 ECDE teachers who were previously working on contract to permanent and pensionable terms. Under the previous terms of service, the teachers were earning between Sh 10,000 and Sh12, 000 per month and were entitled to 31 per cent gratuity upon expiry of their three-year contract.

Since July last year, the county has been remitting 15 per cent of the contributory pension to the County Pension Fund(CPF), while the teachers have been contributing 7.5 per cent of their basic pay to the CPF.

The governor noted that in addition to securing their future by giving them permanent employment, the teachers would have an opportunity to advance their skills through a series of training opportunities that the county government had lined up for them.

‘In addition, it will help improve employee performance as well as help the county reduce turnover and maintain employees who possess critical skills,’ said Kahiga.

Source: Kenya News Agency