The Role and Influence of Vihiga County Government in the Implementation of the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Curriculum

The involvement of devolved government in the implementation of an ECDE curriculum is critical to the academic future of preschoolers. The ECDE centers require improvement which calls for enhanced support, financial or otherwise, not only from the county government but from other stakeholders as well. In the wake of a new political dispensation that saw most of hitherto centralized functions of the national government being devolved to county governments, the implementation of ECDE curricula across Kenya too became a devolved function. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to establish the role and influence of Vihiga County government in the implementation of the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Curriculum. Gross’s Theory of Curriculum Implementation guided this study. The study applied a descriptive survey as the central design targeting ECDE teachers, ECDE curriculum implementation stakeholders, Curriculum Staff Officers, and Quality Assurance Officers in Vihiga County. Stratified random sampling was employed to raise a study sample of 20%. The questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection, but an interview schedule was used too. The study established that the devolved government plays a pivotal role in the process of ECDE curriculum implementation. Furthermore, the study found that the County government of Vihiga has registered significant success in as far as the provision of teaching and learning materials goes, but more effort is required to ensure human resource development which is key in the ECDE curriculum implementation process. Keywords : QUASO, ECDE, Curriculum Implementation, CSO, ECDE Curricula. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-28-07 Publication date: October 31 st 2020