Challenges in the ECD programmes are similar in most of the African countries (Vargas- Baron, 2005). Identical challenges are common in most African countries in the remote rural ECD schools. The government is not recognising the importance of ECD education to the children‟s future; of which funding is shouldered by communities which is posing vast challenges in the programme (Tikly, 2010). Early childhood education is not yet a commitment to most African states; the governments are not yet allocating an adequate portion of funding (UNESCO, 2009). This emphasis on children‟s rights and protection was supposed to be backed by the government, meaning that the government was supposed to take the lion‟s share, in terms of resource contribution in the implementation of ECD
education programme. Now lack of funding is becoming challenging to school heads in running ECD schools in remote rural areas.
Mugweni (2011) identifies many challenges that are faced by remote rural ECD schools;
among them is lack of appropriate infrastructure. Integration of ECD into the main primary school was an attempt to provide inclusive early childhood education to children in the country. However, in remote rural areas, parents and communities are relegated to provide resources in ECD schools; as a result they are poorly resourced. The learners are learning and habituating in unsatisfactory infrastructure and inappropriate play equipment. Mostly, these ECD centres are operating under sub-standard physical and academic environments as a result giving challenges to those who run the schools. Mushoriwa and Muzembe (2011) confirm that most remote rural Zimbabwean primary schools are having ECD classes under the trees. It is very difficult for remote rural communities to afford building classrooms for the ECD children, especially when considering that the areas are poverty afflicted (Mugweni, 2011). This view is supported by Zvobgo (2005) who provides challenges that hamper progression of the ECD programme in remote rural schools, which lack funding, teaching and learning materials to improve infrastructure.
Remote rural people are struggling to make a living with their families, since their economic lives are influenced by the erratic rainfall which causes drought (Zvobgo, 2005; Gardeva &
Rhyne, 2011). They suffer high food insecurity, as a result struggle to feed, dress or pay levies for their children, because they have no income activities to get money to buy food and clothes or pay school levies for their children. As a result (Zvobgo, 2005) confirms that children fail to attend school due to the inability by the parents or guardians to pay school levies. Zvobgo (2005) goes on to say that in remote rural ECD schools, children‟s turnout is negatively impacted by drought.
When parents fail to understand the value of ECD education, they tend to lose focus and fail to send them to school (Berns, 2007; Frederick, 2011). ECD education is a new phenomenon and due to lack of awareness most people, especially in rural areas, fail to understand the importance of the programme. Many parents regard ECD as a „child-day-care‟ programme and they do not consider it as a priority for their children (Mushoriwa & Muzembe, 2011).
This has a similar loophole in most African countries: inadequate knowledge in the public
realm vis-à-vis the significance of ECD; and relegated importance of ECD within government (UNICEF, 2005). This denotes that even the government is not regarding ECD as an important programme in the country. The communities are used to seeing important programmes being funded by the government, now when they look at ECD; they take it as a sketch programme (Frederick, 2011). It is a very difficult situation for the school heads to partner with parents and communities that do not value this educational programme.
One of the critical challenges is the unavailability of qualified ECD teachers in the schools (Frederick, 2011). Considering teachers qualifications in the schools, Mugweni (2011) confesses that most ECD classes are managed by para-professionals. Further expatiating the view of teacher qualification are Chikutuma and Mapolisa (2013) who elaborate that most remote rural ECD classes are manned by under qualified personnel. Recruitment of trained teachers to remote rural areas is not universally problematic; there are certain poor „hard-to- find remote rural schools‟ that continually face challenges of trained teachers (Monk, 2007;
Laine, et al., 2011). This is the situation in China and it is common in most parts of the region like the underprivileged rural areas where qualified teachers are scarce (Rao, 2010). The above dispositions show that, remote rural schools are manned by the untrained personnel called para-professionals. This situation is threatening the attainment of quality education in ECD.
The issue of untrained teachers; teaching the ECD children draws attention to the fact of irrelevant curriculum and the use of unsuitable pedagogies in teaching and learning processes. Rao (2010) pronounces that the Chinese situation in ECD schools is renowned for over-crowding of children and use of whole group instruction. UNESCO and UNICEF (2012) also claim that, teaching and learning in ECD schools is still not conforming to the play-way methods; teachers are using didactic and academic methods of teaching. Early childhood education is facing developmentally inappropriate practices because these untrained teachers are using theoretical teaching giving little attention to methods that nurture child development. The para-professionals are not developed or equipped with appropriate practices of developing the curriculum and pedagogies suitable for the ECD children. Hence, they use out-dated teaching methods, since they are not knowledgeable of new pedagogies (Chikutuma & Mawere, 2012). These para-professionals lack up-to-date teaching skills and
knowledge, since they are not trained; as a result they compromise the quality of instruction in the classes.
Most parents in the rural communities do not have disposable income to pay ECD para- professionals allowances (Mugweni, 2011). The ECD programme is sponsored by parents and communities, who are failing to pay for their children. This brings to light the issue of low and irregular para-professionals allowances complicating efforts to improve the quality of early childhood education in remote rural ECD schools. Below is a quoted Kenyan situation:
Para-professionals get low and irregular allowances although most of Kenya’s early childhood centres are public and usually attached to primary schools, they are mainly funded and managed by parents and local communities through parent/teacher associations(PTAs) or centre-based committees. Teachers’
salaries are mostly, if not entirely, covered by parental fees, unlike primary teachers, who are paid by the Government on an official salary scale. The level of ECD teachers’ remuneration depends on the total number of children enrolled and parents’ contributory capacity and salary payment is irregular and fluctuates monthly depending on parents’ contributions (Hyde & Kabiru, 2006, p. 16).
These allowances are determined by the enrolment and more specifically by the capacity of the parents to pay for their children. It is greatly appreciated how these local communities collaborate and sacrifice the meagre resources to promote ECD in many parts of the world as shown above. However, in poor rural areas, lack of government funding on para- professionals‟ allowances is putting pressure on parents who cannot even provide for the education of their children (UNICEF, 2010). Many para-professionals are not getting their allowances on time; it is revealed that 90 per-cent of these para-professionals have owed allowances of about three months‟ worth (UNESCO, 2012). This late payment of allowances brings dissatisfaction in para-professionals, compelling them to spend time trying to earn incomes from other sources instead of planning and preparing for the next day‟s lessons (UNICEF, 2010). This affects the children‟s learning and worse the hard won school resources at the expense of the children. It is a pity for remote rural ECD schools that most trained teachers who are supposed to be paid by the government do not want to teach in remote rural areas (Lyons, 2006). Indeed, recruiting trained teachers to remote rural schools has presented a challenge for district-level leaders for years (Laine, et al., 2011). Remote
rural communities will continue to suffer in paying the para-professionals but ECD trained teachers are flooding in urban ECD schools (UNICEF, 2010). Indeed, this is posing big challenges to school heads and SDCs in running the schools.
Chikutuma and Mawere (2012) acknowledge the greatest challenge occurs when supervisors are being incompetent or unable to plan and run staff training workshops in ECD.
Intensifying this issue Amponsah (2004) ricochets that; there are no feasible programmes in the surveyed districts to train school heads, teachers and para-professionals. It is clearly stated in the above literature, hence I argue that supervision skills need to be developed starting from the ministerial level to the grassroots. Many of these so called supervisors are incompetent and illiterate about what should really be done by teachers and children in the field of early childhood education (Chikutuma & Mawere, 2012). Amponsah (2004) cites one prototype:
A classic example of this is the recent appointment of the senior education officer at the Ministry Headquarters to co-ordinate early childhood services throughout the country. The officer is not a qualified early childhood person, but has qualifications in primary teaching. This officer is expected to offer a supervisory role both in the administrative and professional areas, not only to the ECD teachers, but to parents, families, and the community at large. So, this is indeed a major challenge in the development of quality service for young children and their families (Amponsah, p.
29).
In the same breath Chikutuma and Mapolisa (2013, p. 36) state that school heads are not competent enough to supervise ECD activities, since they are not trained in the area. Myers (2006) mentions among others, ineffective monitoring of schools by District and Provincial officials is all part of the problem in ECD African countries. The requirements for ECD teacher training are more exceptional. Having a university degree tends to disguise most teachers as qualified to teach ECD classes; yet the degree in question might have nothing to do with early childhood theory or training. It is a prevailing challenge in many countries having these graduate teachers supervising ECD classes yet they are not trained for this particular sector (Doherty, et al., 2006; Meier & Marais, 2007). These diploma/degree-holder teachers, school heads and District or Provincial Officers who are mandated to teach or supervise the ECD classes need to be developed in their pedagogical and supervisory skills.
In addition, large classes at early years of learning interfere with the capacity of teachers in teaching (O‟Sullivan, 2006). There are many inadequacies in the ECD schools in terms of teaching and learning materials like drawing materials, sizable furniture, outdoor play centres or even age appropriate toilets; all these negatively affects the quality of education (Mugweni
& Dakwa, 2013). The other concern behind these citations is over-population in the classroom, which is related to little or no access to learning equipment and other learning materials which are most important and critical in the development of children‟s basic skills and above all competencies (Mugweni, 2011). In some places they have introduced shifts and sometimes the shifts are triple in order to solve the problem of large classes, this has resulted in minimal contact hours which have a great impact in children‟s development (Abadzi, 2008). According to Oruta (2009), most of the ECD centres attached to public primary schools in Kenya share facilities such as toilets; the condition of these toilets are not suitable for the young children in pre-school/the lower primary school. This purports that there are no age appropriate sanitary facilities in the schools. The ECD children are exposed to insecurity and unhealthy standards by sharing facilities with primary children. This creates problems for the school heads, since they are accountable for the dangers that affect these children.