County Governments have begun responding to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) order issued on Early Childhood and Development Education (ECDE) teachers.
The SRC conducted a job evaluation for ECDE teachers following requests from governors and has now issued a grading and salary structure for the teachers and they want it to be implemented across all forty-seven (47) counties.
However, the SRC graded the ECDE Certificate and Diploma teachers but failed to capture those with Degrees.
The SRC’s salary structure recommendations for ECDE teachers had sparked protests from ECDE teachers.
The counties of Vihiga, Homa Bay, Kisii, and West Pokot have already shown indications that they will implement the SRC’S recommendations.
The SRC recommended that the lowest ECDE teachers (ECDE Teacher III (Certificate) to be paid a Minimum salary of Kshs. 7,836 and a maximum of Kshs. 8,717. The highest ECDE teacher (Senior ECDE Teacher I (Diploma) should be paid a minimum salary of Kshs. 15,224 and a maximum of Kshs. 19,090.
The Commission revealed that it has developed the salary structure for ECDE cadres (Diploma and Certificate levels) based on the results of job evaluation after holding consultative meetings with relevant stakeholders and challenges that were observed in matters of funding and remuneration for ECDE teachers at the County Government.
“This advisory supersedes any other Circular the Commission has issued on the grading and remuneration for the ECDE cadres.
“The purpose of this letter, therefore is to communicate the job evaluation grading results and the attendant remuneration structure for the ECDE cadres for the County Government for 2021/22 – 2024/25 remuneration review cycle for your further necessary action,” said SRC CEO Anne Gitau via a letter to the Council of Governors.
This latest move caused panic among ECDE teachers who so far do not have a strong teachers union.
The Commission’s salary structure is way below what the governors had proposed to pay the teachers.
The following table is what ECDE teachers had proposed to pay ECDE teachers in their counties.
F (Certificate) | 16250 | 3000 | 2437.50 | 3000 | 22250 |
H (Diploma) | 27195 | 3850 | 4079 | 4000 | 35045 |
K (Degree) | 33994 | 9600 | 5099 | 5000 | 48594 |
SRC’s move could incite counties that have been paying ECDE teachers higher salaries to revise them downwards to fit the Commission’s proposals.
For instance, in Kirinyaga County, the lowest teachers were paid Kshs. 22,000 and the highest-paid teachers got Kshs. 49,000.
Below are the Approved Gross Remuneration Structure for ECDE Teachers
APPROVED JOB EVALUATION GRADING AND REMUNERATION STRUCTURE FOR THE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION (ECDE) TEACHERS AND CAREGIVERS
Table 1: Job Evaluation Grading Results for ECDE cadres for the 3rd Remuneration and Benefits Cycle
Table 2: Approved Grading and Remuneration Structure for ECDE Teachers
Table 3: Annual Progression of the Basic Salary Structure for ECDE Teachers