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{
    "id": 1029179,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1029179/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 192,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13188,
        "legal_name": "Getrude Musuruve Inimah",
        "slug": "getrude-musuruve-inimah"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, AWARE THAT Section 46 of the Basic Education Act, 2013 mandates the county education boards to provide for Education Assessment and Research Centres (EARCs), including a special needs service in identified clinics in the respective counties. FURTHER AWARE, THAT the functions of the EARCs as provided by the Act include; the study of children with special education needs within the county; the giving of advice to parents and teachers as to appropriate methods of education for such children; in suitable cases, provision for the special education needs of such children in the identified clinics; and, the giving of advice to county education boards regarding the assessment of the needs of any child under special needs education for purposes of any of the provisions of the Basic Education Act, 2013. NOTING THAT, given the critical role EARCs play in assessment, placement and early intervention of children with special needs, EARCs countrywide are currently in a dilapidated and dysfunctional state. NOW THEREFORE, the Senate calls upon the county governments to operationalize Section 46 of the Basic Education Act, 2013 by- (1) Ensuring that EARCs in the respective counties are fully furnished and adequately staffed; and (2) Working in tandem with the National Government to develop a national policy on EARCs that will define the expected service delivery in accordance with internationally set standards and regulate the terms of employment for the staff. Madam Deputy Speaker, the issue of children with disabilities keeps coming up in this Senate for the purposes of ensuring that they are not left behind. I always thank all the Senators because when issues of disability come on the Floor of this House, they support very strongly. Before we talk about children with disabilities and intervention in their academics, how they can live, or be functional in the society, we have to ensure that they are identified and assessed at an early age before placement is done. That is the core role EARCs apart from offering psychosocial support to parents and the teachers of children with disabilities in regular schools. In 1984, the Government of Denmark through DANIDA in collaboration with the Government of Kenya ensured there were EARCs in the then districts. In 1984, the first"
}