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{
"id": 1048581,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1048581/?format=api",
"text_counter": 237,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Hargura",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 827,
"legal_name": "Godana Hargura",
"slug": "godana-hargura"
},
"content": "Taking into account the pastoralist lifestyle, where most of the time families move, you will find a whole family; the father, mother plus those children who can walk long distance, moving along with the animals. If there was a facility like an early childhood centre or childcare centre somewhere, that is where they would have left their children. That is where the children would have gone into the system of getting formal education from that early stage. That is why it is very important. For some communities, it determines your future. The presence of that facility will determine your future because that is where you will start learning. Due to the poverty levels in some areas, if there were such facilities where the children can get a meal a day or two meals a day, the parents would be very happy to take their children there, so that as part of the day care, they also get provided for. This would also ensure that the parents have more time to do other things, like looking after the animas, which is a tedious job. One would leave in the morning and come back in the evening. The whole day the father or mother will not be available. I know that counties have put in some effort with regard to that. They have constructed ECDE classrooms. They have employed the caregivers, but it is not systematic. In some areas the structures are there, but they have not equipped them or employed the caregivers. Therefore, it is not useful to the community. If there is this kind of a resolution, through this Motion brought by Sen. (Dr.) Alice Milgo, then the counties will have a direction in the sense that they are required to commit a certain percentage, in this case, 10 per cent. Although we know the way counties operate, I do not know whether they will have that 10 per cent. This is because very important sectors like health end up not getting this 10 per cent. We have turned counties into employment bureaus. Some are overshooting the 35 per cent ceiling, which has been put by the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act that they should not exceed in terms of committing payment of personal emoluments. However, this is a starting point and they need to know that this is an important sector. In communities where illiteracy levels are high, they can improve by getting children into the education system early. Along the way, 20 years down the line, once more children have gone to school, they will develop necessary manpower to employ teachers and healthcare personnel. You will be surprised that there are no enough teachers in those areas. If you check the number of students interested in enrolling to the teacher training colleges, they are not there. This needs to start from the lower level, even when it comes to nurses. When the illiteracy levels are high, it means there are few people from those areas willing to go through the system to train in the necessary profession and go back and serve the area. We know what is happening in parts of this country, especially northern Kenya, where outsiders, the non-locals have left because of security challenges. If the locals are trained in those professions like teaching and medicine, then they will provide the necessary services. It is a good direction to go, it is better to start early and provide the facilities at that level. In the case of pastoral communities, once you miss at that level, then you will not have people go to school once they have reached the school going age. A six-year-old child is old enough to go to school. At that level a pastoralist child can take care of a herd of cattle. The parent will find more use in the child than taking him or her to school. If The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}