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{
    "id": 1111399,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1111399/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wako",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 366,
        "legal_name": "Amos Sitswila Wako",
        "slug": "amos-wako"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. This is a very important topic on which I think I should speak. I would just like to remind you that I am Senator No. 1 and therefore, when I want to speak, I should speak. I think we have underestimated the importance of Early Childhood Education (ECD) in this country. We think that because it is at the very basic, therefore, it is county governments to deal with it. It is very true that under our Constitution, it is the county governments which have the responsibility to deal with education; pre-primary education, village polytechnics, comcraft centres and childcare facilities. So, it is exclusively a county government matter because if you contrast that with the National Government’s functions as relates to education, it is education policy standards, curriculum, examinations and the granting of university charters. Then there is 16 universities, primary schools, special education, secondary and so on. Therefore, the tendency has been to leave everything to county governments. That is why we have this dichotomy that in some county governments they are doing very well while in others they are not doing very well. As far as this Petition is concerned, there are some exemplary examples like Mandera and Kajiado which have done very well as relates to the remuneration of ECD. I remember during the election in 2013, I met the ECD teachers and they really wanted to be recognized and also to be given terms of service by the county government which should be followed. However, it is obvious that if we leave everything to county governments, we are going to have a dichotomy. Educationists will tell you that if the foundation of your education is wrong, then whatever happens at the upper levels of education, primary, secondary and so on, will also be wrong. That is why in some countries this early childhood and primary education are regarded as so important that even the teachers who teach there have doctorates. The teachers who teach there are not Form Four failures. They are actually people with doctorates who teach at that level. The danger we are having is that in as much as the educational policy for primary schools and so on is standardized throughout Kenya, if we are going to have different standards at county level, then when they now go to primary, we are going to have a dichotomy of education in various areas and most counties are going to suffer because of that. Those who have recognized the importance of ECD are going to succeed."
}