New bid to improve the quality of early childhood learning

Mombasa County Governor, Ali Hassan [left], his deputy, William Kingi [right] and Mombasa County chief officer of Information Communication and Technology, Anwar Ahmed [centre] during the launch of Early Childhood robotics education at Buxton in Mombasa. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Stakeholders in the education sector want the government to focus on delivering quality early childhood education.

Speaking during a meeting in preparation for the Global Partnership on Education (GPE) replenishment summit that will be held on June 28, the team from Their World, a global charity that rallies governments to advance the interests of children and women, said there should be a shift from provision of bursaries and infrastructure development in schools.

Instead, they want counties and the central government to ensure early childhood development facilities are prioritised as the world gets into conversation on how to improve the quality of education globally.

“Early childhood goes beyond the academics. There are a lot of things that happen at that level, including fortification of their meals and learning how to share,” said Dr Teresa Mwoma, senior lecture of early childhood and special needs education at Kenyatta University.

In June, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged Sh65 billion towards the GPE campaign.

The Global Partnership on Education summit is expected to spark conversations on how to make global education better by improving the quality of education all learners get.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has been invited by the United Kingdom to co-host the Global Education Summit (GPE) with that country in London on July 28 and 29, 2021.