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{
    "id": 1029225,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1029225/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 124,
        "legal_name": "Samson Kegeo Ongeri",
        "slug": "samson-ongeri"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also weigh in on an important topic on the Operationalization of Section 46 of the Basic Education Act, 2013. I thank Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve for bringing this Motion to this House. Let me put it on record that in 2009, as the Minister for Education, I was responsible for establishing the National Special Needs Education Policy that clearly enunciated what needed to be done, particularly, by coming up with comprehensive strategies and policies to improve service to children with special needs. You can make reference to that policy that I established when I was the Minister for Education in 2009. One of the areas in that policy was to create advocacy and awareness of the existence of children with special needs and requirements. We also needed to revamp the curriculum to improve the performance and rating of such children in special education centres and also provide teachers who are appropriately trained to handle those delicate individuals who have diverse needs, unlike the normal children that we see around in the basic education establishments. The policy also gave room for data collection to enable assessment of areas that needed to be attended to so as to create the necessary legal framework to support them. In fact, if the Mover of the Motion would like me to also add something, Section 46 of the Basic Education Act should be read alongside Sections 47 and 48 of the same Act because this has a consequential effect in operationalization of Sections 46, 47 and 48. Section 47 creates a mandatory reporting process on how such children should be treated within any given county. Section 48 gives effect that if the centres are not available inside our country Kenya, then we can go beyond the territory of Kenya to have establishments elsewhere to assist those children acquire basic education. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am a great supporter of education because education is a game changer. It does not matter whether it is a normal individual or a child with special needs and requirements. They can improve their own self-importance and self-worth by just acquiring certain basic skills and knowledge to help them accomplish certain tasks with ease without any difficulty."
}