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{
    "id": 1240191,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1240191/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 414,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ezekiel Machogu",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13458,
        "legal_name": "Ezekiel Machogu Ombaki",
        "slug": "ezekiel-machogu-ombaki"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. The first question is about understaffing of teachers in junior secondary. I want to re- assure Members that as a Ministry, we are aware of that fact. However, we have not reached a state where we can say we are 100 per cent perfect as far as staffing is concerned. This is an issue that we hold meetings every time about. Normally, I hold virtual meetings with sub- county directors of Education and county directors of education. We get reports of shortage of teachers in specific schools and address that particular problem as we progress. When funds allow, we will post teachers to these schools. I want to confirm to the Members that for the last four to five years, there has been in- service training courses for teachers, particularly on pedagogy to prepare them to teach the CBC. We have many qualified teachers, including graduates who are in primary schools and those are the teachers that we are using to teach in junior secondary schools in the country. So, the problem is not as serious as we have put it. I have gone to almost all regions in this country. As you may be aware, I have been in schools at the Coast, North Eastern, Eastern, Western, Nyanza, and Central regions trying to assess the state of teachers in schools and seeing how we can mitigate this challenge. As much as we cannot be 100 per cent perfect on this, I assure you the Government will continue to look into this problem as we move forward. Water, as I said, is a function and responsibility of the Ministry of Water. In the Ministry of Education, NACONEK does not have the technical expertise and the capacity to do boreholes as the Ministry of Water does. I want to ask Members that once they identify a need in a given area, they pass the information to us. Because we have one approach in Government, I can communicate the same to my colleagues, the Cabinet Secretary for Water. I am sure that with availability of the funds that Parliament allocated to that Ministry, something will be done because the funds were allocated for that particular purpose. I am sorry I did not answer Hon. Sabina Chege’s question. I want to apologise to the teachers that we have not been able to pay their salaries. We are still capturing their information. After posting them, we must get information from the school principals that they reported on specific dates so that we prepare their payments. Today, after I had discussed with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the TSC, it was confirmed to me that almost 50 per cent of the newly employed teachers had been paid. We are still getting information from the field on the other 50 per cent. Funds are available for paying teachers. We will pay them expeditiously. On school fees balance and schools that insist that payment of school fees must be done before they issue certificates, it is another area that Parliament has issued a directive on. This government has issued a directive on this area. It is actually not the government but Parliament itself. If you look at the Kenya National Examinations Council Act, Section 5, it clearly states that no student should be denied a certificate. I know these cases might be many, but whenever you come across them, you can take them to our County Directors of Education or to my office. I was even handling two such cases last week. I also know that my County Directors, including the Regional Directors, are handling this because they are under firm instructions with regard to this. This was one of the agenda we discussed when I met principals of national schools in The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}