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{
    "id": 1057548,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1057548/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Siaya CWR, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Christine Ombaka",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "with the education of children. Early childhood education (ECE), as has already been emphasised here, is the beginning of education for any child. It is the foundation of education for everybody. It is also an institution where character building begins. Socialisation takes place at ECE level and a child becomes good or bad from that point of education. So, I support the Bill. The Bill seeks to standardise education of the child in the sense that we need to have trained teachers and a curriculum in place that is acceptable to the community and the people. It is a place where, much as it has been a very important institution even in the past, it has had challenges in the sense that ECE has always been seen to be something so small that education does not need to be emphasised on. That is why even some of the teachers in ECD are not trained and even if they are trained, they are poorly paid and their pay is not regularised. They miss out on that. That is why in the past, ECD has been neglected but, I am so happy that this Bill improves the areas that have been neglected. There will be better management systems. The curriculum will be established and the children will learn and be more serious with their education. I also need to highlight that this is not only a place to learn, but also a place for socialisation. It is also a place where immunization of children can take place. It is a place where school feeding program also runs. An ECD is a center of many activities that improve the development of a child. Immunization will address health, nutrition and will also be done there. Even registration of children in terms of the population is there. County governments have done their best, but they are also complaining that they do not have enough funds. Even though we set up the criteria for running ECD institutions, we need to think about the county governments having enough funds and running those institutions as effectively and as efficiently as possible. What I have seen in my county is very commendable. We have had so many of those institutions set up. Almost every primary school has an Early Childhood Development and Education Centre (ECDE). When you see a well-run primary school, you will be sure that the ECDE center is also well run. There is that connection of improving primary schools and also having an effect on the ECDE centre that is attached to it. The very good thing again is the fact that the Government is now highlighting the 100 per cent transition. So, I can see a situation where all the children who attend early childhood schools will be able to transit to Standard I - all of them. We will be able to track the children as they go to school; how many girls and boys are there? Did they all join Standard I. This is because girls start disappearing at some point, which is a big challenge in the education system. It is also very true that we need to address the sector where children living with disabilities are taken care of. ECDEs are also areas where you start identifying children who might have physical, emotional or other challenges. They are centers where trained teachers need to identify children very early and be able to transfer them to institutions that can address their problems better. So, children with challenges and those living with…"
}