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{
    "id": 1224074,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1224074/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "studies plumbing in a polytechnic in Homa Bay County should get a certificate and be subjected to the same quality standards as one who studies in a polytechnic in Lamu County. What is the curriculum that is used in these polytechnics? Is it a national or a county curriculum? Curriculum and policy development are a national Government function. Even though I am proposing this Bill, the TVET Authority will still work with county governments to ensure there is one universal curriculum that cuts across all vocational centres that are run by counties across the country. The other critical issue is staffing. What is the qualification of a trainer in a village polytechnic or home craft centres? We know the qualification required for a primary school teacher. A primary school teacher in Turkana County has the same qualifications as one in Nairobi City County. Is that the same for instructors in our polytechnics? The village polytechnic closest to my home is known as Waondo Village Polytechnic. It was built many years ago and it has suffered. As I said earlier, people do not want to go to a village polytechnic. They want to go somewhere with a better name. In fact, sometimes when we start institutions in our various localities we need to be very careful about how we name them. Sometimes you have sponsored an institution and the villagers agree that the school will assume your name. Now, you can imagine a hardworking young person who has gone to secondary school and then the school is called Sen. Methu Secondary School. What kind of doors will that kind of name open for that child in the future? Even though Sen. Methu Secondary School might probably have better teachers, a student who went to another school called Oxford Boys Secondary School, even though it was in Ngara, would be taken much more seriously. Therefore, we need to address these issues of nomenclature. Let us not call them village polytechnics. Those are some of the ideas that we have coming from stakeholders. Let us give them different names. However, what are the qualifications of an instructor? Many times, you will find that, if it is a plumbing course, the local community will get a good plumber to come and instruct others. A good plumber is not necessarily a good teacher. In my village, a very good carpenter, who is also my age mate, was recruited because we had a vacancy for a carpentry instructor, to provide instructions to other students. The problem is that this friend of mine would be drunk by 8.00 a.m. When he goes to class, he insists that he should be called Mr. Awiti, a title befitting his stature as an instructor. We need to bring sanity to these vocational centers in counties. This Bill seeks to give that power to the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Education to come up with regulations and guidelines on the qualifications of those people who should provide instruction to students in vocational centers in the counties. There is also the element of accreditation. There have been a lot of con games, particularly in this space. People open up outlets, recruit students and put in a sweetener that they are going to link them up with foreign institutions. Sen. Methu hairdressing school has a partnership with the village of Cambridge University. When people hear ‘Cambridge’, they do not care. They think it is the real Cambridge University, even if it is called the Village of Cambridge University. So,"
}