Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1224175,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1224175/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 324,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "through a day. The persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs) are perfect candidates for this technical and vocational training centres. I do not know if you know this as well but there are many PWDs who have shown and displayed creative skills outside the classroom; the traditional classroom. We know some of the PWDs like Elon Musk; he is an Autistic man but look at what he has done for himself, his family and the world over. Mark Zuckerberg is also an autistic man but look at what he has been able to do with his skills and his creative mind not just for himself and his family but for the world. The most famous TVET that works with PWDs in Kenya is the Bombolulu Workshop in Mombasa. Many people with disability go there and get trained; they get skill; they are empowered and encouraged so that they can elevate themselves and their lives; of course, also that of their families. In fact, one of the electricians that I use at home in Mombasa is an ex-trainee of the Bombolulu Workshop Centre and he is an amazing electrician. In, fact, I prefer working with PWDs not only because I know that I am assisting them in a very difficult environment that they already have to experience but also because they are far much creative and disciplined. They understand the importance of how to keep a job and why it is important to keep a job. They are punctual and polite. As I said, they do engage very creatively in their work. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a couple of suggestions to enhance this Bill for the sponsor: First of all, a question of language. He talks in the Bill about “trainees with disability” rather than “trainee with disabilities”. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) clearly talks about the skewed language that it be Persons with Disabilities - plural because we are not homogeneous. It goes extensively and importance of language and so that is the first amendment that I would ask the sponsor to consider. It should read “trainees with disabilities’. Secondly, is to ensure that there is language for lowering entry-level requirement for PWD to enter this TVETS. Also ensuring that there is language for lowering assessment criteria because of the nature and the different types of disabilities and impairments that PWDs face. There is need to be more reasonable and accommodative in assessments There also need to be language around zero tolerance for this combination. There have been many a times that PWDs have come up to me in conversation or to get advice. They ask: ‘What do I do when I walk into a place; a building; a training institution on any kind and because of my disability, they already judge me and say, because you are blind, surely, you cannot be a carpenter?’ That because you have a physical disability, surely, you cannot be a welder and so on and so forth. Let there be zero tolerance policy in that respect. The staff who are working at these institutions and centres need to undergo inclusive education training from the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) or other educational institutions in Kenya that make them to understand how to teach and how to interact with trainees with disabilities who are going to be in these centres. That all levels, starting with the Cabinet Secretary of Education ensure that there will be core units on universal design principle. A lot of the things that we use today on the world have emanated from being a creative solution to aid and accommodate PWDs"
}