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{
"id": 1525192,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525192/?format=api",
"text_counter": 124,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maragwa, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Njoroge",
"speaker": {
"id": 13421,
"legal_name": "Mary Wamaua Waithira Njoroge",
"slug": "mary-wamaua-waithira-njoroge"
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"content": "The Chairperson and Members of a Sub-County Education Board shall be appointed for a term of five years and be eligible for re-appointment for a further term. Regarding meetings, a Sub-County Education Board shall hold meetings on a need basis at such places and times as the County Education Board shall consider necessary for the proper discharge of its functions. We do not want to talk about remunerations because we want to source the majority of the members from within the County Public Service Board of the respective county. They already have remuneration from the department to which they belong. Therefore, there would only be a small allowance, as their respective departments already pay them. Meetings will be held on a need basis. New Section 18E(2) of the Bill says that notwithstanding Subsection 1, which I have read, the Sub-county Education Board shall not meet more than four times in each financial year. The Members of the Board shall be paid by the organisations they represent in the Board such allowances and disbursements for expenses as may be approved by the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). A Sub-county Education Board may, from time to time, co-opt into its membership such persons not being more than three as it is satisfied possessing skills and experience necessary in the discharge of its functions. For instance, if an issue arises requiring architectural expertise or any other skill that is not represented within the Board, it may co-opt an architect or any other professional whose skills are needed. Remember that we have all these professionals within the counties. We have architects, quantity surveyors and other professionals. We will, therefore, not need to look too far for them. They will only be co-opted when a specific skill is required that is not represented within the Board's membership. Hon. Temporary Speaker, if this House supports and passes this Bill, we will benefit in terms of efficiency, time-saving, and better running of our institutions within the sub-county: primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions. There will be several benefits, like faster school registration and approval processes. Secondly, there will be enhanced school monitoring and oversight. This is because it will be done at the sub-county level but not at the county level, which may not do exactly as per the demand. Some counties are vast, making it difficult for them to carry out oversight effectively. However, at the sub-county level, you can be assured that monitoring and oversight will happen in our schools, including discipline for our learners. Thirdly, there would be reduced bureaucracy or red tape. Schools will have direct access to decision-making authorities at the sub-county level instead of waiting for responses from the County Education Board, which covers a vast area and may deter urgent resolution of such issues. Fourthly, there would be increased community involvement in education management. Local education stakeholders will have stronger voices in shaping policies and school development plans at the sub-county level. We have many supportive stakeholders in education. If all this happens within the locality where people understand the terrain and stakeholders, they can quickly convene and provide the required support, including some of those who always chip in in their own way. That way, we would have improved efficiency in teacher resource allocation. Sub-County Education boards would be better placed to oversee staffing needs and resource distribution in schools within their respective jurisdictions without waiting for the County Education boards to advise, now that the Sub-County Education boards would be found within the school locales."
},
{
"id": 1525193,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525193/?format=api",
"text_counter": 125,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maragwa, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Njoroge",
"speaker": {
"id": 13421,
"legal_name": "Mary Wamaua Waithira Njoroge",
"slug": "mary-wamaua-waithira-njoroge"
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"content": "Countries like South Africa, Canada, India, and Rwanda have successfully implemented decentralised education management systems. For example, in South Africa, local district education offices play a critical role in decision-making, thus reducing delays and improving school oversight. The current centralised education model has a gap, and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1525194,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525194/?format=api",
"text_counter": 126,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maragwa, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Njoroge",
"speaker": {
"id": 13421,
"legal_name": "Mary Wamaua Waithira Njoroge",
"slug": "mary-wamaua-waithira-njoroge"
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"content": "introducing the Sub-County Education Board will go a long way in resolving the challenges that schools face today. My Constituency is second in terms of landmass after Kiharu Constituency. Many children in my Constituency walk five to seven kilometres to access education. Our education policy dictates that children should access education with ease. Registration of new schools takes such a long time. Half of my Constituency is arid. Parents cannot pay the Board of Management (BoM) Teachers. Sometimes, it is the Member of Parliament who goes into their pocket to pay the teachers since the parents cannot afford to pay for it. Members pay the teachers as if they are the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) due to delays in the registration of schools, which is such a long process in the counties."
},
{
"id": 1525195,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525195/?format=api",
"text_counter": 127,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maragwa, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Njoroge",
"speaker": {
"id": 13421,
"legal_name": "Mary Wamaua Waithira Njoroge",
"slug": "mary-wamaua-waithira-njoroge"
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"content": "I urge my colleagues in this honourable House to support the Bill. With those few remarks, I beg to move and request Hon. Muthoni to second."
},
{
"id": 1525196,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525196/?format=api",
"text_counter": 128,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Muthoni, proceed to second."
},
{
"id": 1525197,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525197/?format=api",
"text_counter": 129,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Dorothy Muthoni",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to second and add my voice to this very important Bill. I want to thank Hon. Mary Wamaua for tabling The Basic Education (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.59 of 2023) so that we can review the education structures in the country. As a country, we ought to acknowledge that devolution is in place, and its purpose is to bring services closer to the people. Citizens of this country should fully enjoy the fruits of devolution. That is the main objective of the Bill. The Bill recommends the establishment of a Sub-County Education Board consisting of a chairperson and six other members representing various stakeholders. The stakeholders are mentioned in the Bill. They must all be included in the composition of the Board for the proper running of the sub-counties. Sub-counties are important because the Sub-County Education Board will be a statutory body to ensure the existence of functional services in our education setup. In most cases, when something happens in schools, it takes time to go to a centralised and established education board. Our counties are vast and have many schools. Thus, establishing the Sub-County Education boards and decentralising services will make school management easier, and we will be able to monitor what happens in every corner of our schools. We have had issues of school unrest. We have seen students wake up in the wee hours to seek a listening ear from the District Education Board, several kilometres away, just because they want their principal transferred. If we establish the Sub-County Education boards, they could air their grievances without travelling too far. Some schools do not meet the threshold of established schools. However, since nobody is close enough to establish how the schools are run, we end up being reactive instead of proactive. Being proactive means that if services were closer to the sub-counties, we would be able to monitor at a close range what happens on a day- to-day basis. The key objective of the Bill is that the decentralised units will ensure efficiency in the running of our institutions. Also, there would be enhanced coordination because if the board members come from the school locale, it would be easier to meet all the stakeholders from time to time and review what is happening in the educational institutions. When the new university education funding model was being implemented, information was not able to reach the intended consumers; the parents, too, did not understand what it was all about; the students who were the beneficiaries did not understand it either. Those policies are established by the Ministry and disseminated to the education boards. They do not go beyond that. If the education boards were active and proactive, information on policies would reach each beneficiary within the shortest time possible. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1525198,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525198/?format=api",
"text_counter": 130,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Dorothy Muthoni",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The community will now be engaged in its own affairs. It is important to note that consumers of education are members of the community. The community will feel involved when we establish education boards and smaller units because they will be involved in the daily running of affairs. Policy reforms from the Ministry will reach them all the time and in a timely manner, whenever required. The same units will ensure they provide us with promotion opportunities and better access to education. The Board will sit to establish gaps and know schools without enough teachers. They will establish schools that lack facilities like laboratories and other amenities as well as which areas require funding. This can only happen when we devolve services closer to consumers. There are proposed functions of sub-county boards."
},
{
"id": 1525199,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525199/?format=api",
"text_counter": 131,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. Dorothy Muthoni blew her nose)"
},
{
"id": 1525200,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525200/?format=api",
"text_counter": 132,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Dorothy Muthoni",
"speaker": null,
"content": "My apologies. I have a cold. That notwithstanding, I will continue. The established functions of sub-county boards will ensure access to budgetary allocation benefits intended institutions directly, as opposed to people selecting certain institutions based on monitoring and evaluation done on which institution requires a budget. At the same time, it would also be easier for the area Member of Parliament, who will be an ex-officio member of the Board, to consume timely information on how schools are running. It is important for all of us to acknowledge that sometimes, it is difficult even for a Member of Parliament to know what is happening in every corner of a constituency. When a Member of Parliament sits on a board, it would be easy to consume information and understand the glaring gaps to address in a constituency. I urge the House to support this important Bill. Once passed, we will reap the fruits of devolution fully. Thank you."
},
{
"id": 1525201,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525201/?format=api",
"text_counter": 133,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much, Hon. Dorothy."
}
]
}