Lullabies have turned into protest songs in Nyamira County, where Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers have taken their grievances from empty classrooms to the streets in a dramatic push for better pay, job security and improved working conditions.
The teachers, who have boycotted classes since Term Three opened on August 24, stormed the county offices singing children’s songs, playing hide-and-seek and roundabout games, and blowing whistles and vuvuzelas to dramatise what they describe as years of neglect.
Under the Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers (KUNOPPET), the tutors carried placards and turned familiar children’s songs such as “Barua yangu imepotea, tafuta!” into protest chants as they demanded the attention of the County Executive.
“We teach these songs to children every day but we go home with Sh12,600. Our letters have disappeared, just like in the song — Barua yangu imepotea, tafuta! We are searching for permanent and pensionable letters,” said Esther Kemunto, one of the affected tutors.
Nyamira ECDE teachers protest outside the county headquarters on August 30, 2026 demanding for improved working conditions.
Photo credit: Wycliffe Nyaberi | Nation Media Group
“We sing for children to sleep and learn, but we cannot sleep because of hunger and debts. How do you live on Sh12,600 in this economy?” she added.
The strike, now in its fourth week, has paralysed learning in many public ECDE centres across the county’s 20 wards, pitting the teachers against the county government in an increasingly bitter dispute over their terms of employment and remuneration.
KUNOPPET Secretary General Eunice Momanyi confirmed that the strike remained in force across the county, with teachers vowing not to return to their classrooms until their grievances are addressed.
“We will not return to class until the government addresses our grievances and responds to our demands,” Ms Momanyi said.
Nyamira has 882 ECDE teachers, many of whom, according to KUNOPPET, have served for between five and 10 years on contract terms. The teachers earn between Sh12,500 and Sh18,000 a month, without the pension, allowances and job security they say they deserve.
At the heart of their demands is the conversion of all contractual teachers to permanent and pensionable (PNP) terms, which would guarantee job security, pension and medical cover.
They are also demanding implementation of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) rates, payment of salary arrears, the effecting of stalled promotions, better working conditions and improved schemes of service.
The teachers argue that their pay is significantly lower than that of their counterparts in neighbouring counties despite the critical role they play in laying the foundation for literacy, numeracy and the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Under the 2010 Constitution, county governments are responsible for hiring, deploying and remunerating ECDE teachers.
In Nyamira, the administration of Governor Amos Nyaribo has previously confirmed tens of ECDE teachers to permanent terms and rolled out support programmes, including school feeding. But disagreements over salary parity and employment terms have continued to simmer, periodically spilling into go-slows and strikes.
The latest confrontation intensified after the county government issued a circular declaring the industrial action unlawful.
The circular dated September 1, 2026, and signed by County Chief Officer for Education Zipporah Orina, said teaching and learning in all ECDE centres was expected to have resumed on August 24 and warned that teachers absent from their work stations would be considered to have absconded duty.
“Any teacher who has been and continues to be absent from their work station effective 24th August 2026 will be considered to have absconded duty and will be subjected to disciplinary action as provided in law,” the circular stated.
The county government, however, offered some concessions, saying teachers already on PNP terms would be moved to SRC rates effective July 1, 2026, while those serving on contract would be considered for conversion to PNP “in due course.”
The circular also said the process of signing a Recognition Agreement with KUNOPPET was at an advanced stage, although it had not been completed.
The position reflects an earlier hard-line stance taken by County Education Executive Emily Ongaga, who said KUNOPPET lacked legal recognition in Nyamira because it had registered only 93 of the county’s 882 ECDE teachers.
Nyamira ECDE teachers protest outside the county headquarters on August 30, 2026 demanding for improved working conditions.
Photo credit: Wycliffe Nyaberi | Nation Media Group
According to Ms Ongaga, the figure falls far short of the 442 members required under the Labour Relations Act for a recognition agreement.
“Any teacher participating in this unlawful industrial action will face disciplinary measures as prescribed by law,” Ms Ongaga warned, while maintaining that learning was proceeding normally and dismissing reports of widespread disruption as misinformation.
KUNOPPET Chairman Kasmirl Mose, however, dismissed the county’s position as intimidation and urged members to remain at home until there was a written commitment on their demands.
The teachers who marched through Nyamira Town were led by Mr Mose, Ms Momanyi and Treasurer Linet Nyakundi.
Mr Mose said the union remained open to talks with the county government but directed teachers to stay away from their classrooms and asked parents to keep their young children at home until the dispute was resolved.
The standoff has left parents caught between sympathy for the teachers’ plight and concern over the disruption to their children’s education.
John Gichaba, a parent from Township Ward, said teachers had legitimate grievances but should seek a negotiated settlement with the county government.
“Teachers are justified to go to the streets, but we appeal to them to employ dialogue with the government,” Mr Gichaba said.
A spot-check across several ECDE centres in Manga, Township and Nyamaiya wards found classrooms largely empty, with some learners left singing and playing in school compounds under the watch of overwhelmed primary school teachers.
For the tutors, the songs that once soothed and entertained their pupils have become an unlikely soundtrack to their struggle.
And as the children wait for their teachers to return, the county government and KUNOPPET remain locked in a dispute whose resolution could determine not only the tutors’ livelihoods, but also the rhythm of learning in Nyamira’s youngest classrooms.
