Abstract:
Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) is the bedrock and foundation of all
learning in the life of any child. There is a very close relationship between Early
Childhood Education and schooling completion rates. It’s said that a child who goes
through ECD learning successfully has higher chances of successfully going through
primary and secondary education. The importance of ECDE as key milestone in the
development of a personality cannot be gainsaid. With the advent of the
implementation of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), the devolution process heralded
the devolution of pre-school among other devolved functions of the county
governments. This paper is set to examine the policy and planning issues arising out
of the devolution process. The paper will examine the importance of investing in
ECDE as a county and the national objectives of ECDE as a yardstick of
implementation. The paper will highlight the basic principles of the ECDE policy
framework in Kenya. The paper will then delve into the policy challenges of
devolving ECDE to the county governments. The paper will also take a glimpse into
the opportunities that have go with the devolution of ECDE services to counties. The
paper will seek to conclude that when the challenges bedeviling devolution of the
ECDE sub-sector will be overcome, the opportunities touch on the betterment of
almost all households in rural and urban Kenya.
