More than 35,000 ECDE learners in Kiambu will now be getting a bowl of nutritious porridge and an egg every day while in school courtesy of the county government's school feeding programme.
The programme launched by Governor Kimani Wamatangi targets the 524 ECDE centres that house 36,524 learners with the aim of improving nutrition among the children, increasing enrolment and retaining the children in the school.
"We are aiming at retaining the children in school. Some children do not get a decent meal even at home and it makes them unable to concentrate in class. The children will be getting nutritious porridge and we supplement it with an egg,' Wamatangi said.
Wamatangi said to make the programme effective the Department of Education enshrined it in the ECDE bill which is waiting to be passed by the county assembly.
"We have presented the ECDE bill at the county assembly to be passed where we have put the feeding programme stating that from now henceforth it will be law and mandatory that every child in the ECDE centre will be getting porridge, an egg and any other foods while in school,"Wamatangi said.
He said that the county government will also collaborate with the ECDE centres which already have an existing feeding programme.
"We will not stop the centres which have existing feeding programmes but instead we will collaborate with them.," he said.
"I am also intending to have a conversation with all those running private ECDE centres and inquire how we can incorporate those who have no feeding programme in the initiative."
He also said that he has revolutionised the county bursary fund and intends to increase it to Sh500 million from Sh300 million to reach many needy students in the county.
Ting’ang’a ward MCA Lawrence Mwaura who is also the chairperson of the county assembly committee on Education affirmed that the feeding programme will not be removed by subsequent regimes once it is passed into law.
"The assembly will pass the feeding programme and this means our children will be feeding well from now moving forward," Mwaura said.
"The uji flour will be procured from established producers to ensure quality; the county government will obtain eggs from farmers near the ECDE facilities as part of our economic empowerment programme."
The governor further announced that his administration has started constructing 180 ECDE centres with a model of twin classrooms to accommodate PPI and PP2, an office for teachers, an ablution block, and a play space for children, and also refurbish the existing ones.
He, however, said that the ECDE teacher’s salary will be reviewed saying that he will engage the national government to help pay half the salary and the county government to pay the other half to keep teachers motivated.
