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{
"id": 1265502,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1265502/?format=api",
"text_counter": 57,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I stand to support the Motion by Hon. Ruku because it talks about an important issue. Education is critically important. When we gained Independence, one of the pillars that our forefathers were hell-bent with, was ensuring that they sought out the issue of fighting ignorance, which is basically providing the population of this country with education. Over the years, Kenyans have proven to be extremely good in academic matters because if you go all over the world, the best scholars are Kenyans. That means that we have the right people and breed for purpose of education. The Government of the Republic of Kenya has over the years, continuously and constantly, bungled matters of education. Over the years, systems of education have kept changing. Many at times, you cannot get a clear-cut reason why the changes occur. When I was young, there were systems that existed. There were exams in Standard Three, the then called Intermediary and then there would be other exams going forward. I went through a system where we had seven years of primary school, four years of secondary school, two years of A-Level, and three years at the university. Afterwards, there is the one that they called the 8-4-4 System, which is now being scrapped for the new competency-based curriculum (CBC) to take effect. Every time we have these kinds of changes, there are investments made that sometimes go to waste. Most of the primary schools in the rural areas have classrooms that were previously workshops. They were used for pre-technical subjects like Art and Craft, and Music. Now, they are defunct and not in use. We now have a new system in place. We are now required to look for laboratories and extra classes. We need to be very careful and ensure that whatever system we come up with, we can live with it for a long time. If you go to the developed world, they do not change their education systems every five or 10 years, or after every major election. We must come up with a policy in education that will last for time immemorial, so that if we are going to introduce any changes, they would be minor and not major, and would not leave some of our facilities unused. The new system has re-introduced Art, Music, and other pre-technical subjects, which require new facilities. The previously existing facilities have already become void. Some of them have even been brought down. It is important that the Government does a good job. I support the idea of a new education system. It is a brilliant idea. The CBC education system is very clear and emulates some of the developed countries. As we emulate the developed systems, we must ensure we do proper planning. In education, planning means that we deal with curriculum, staffing, and funding. That is why I feel that, as a country, we have failed. The CBC started in 2015, with PP1. Eight years later, we have never put in place plans to ensure that we have enough classes and laboratories, and that teachers going to teach this system have been well trained. What we are churning out of our teacher training institutions is still based on the 8-4-4 System of Education. It is really unfortunate. What happened is that the Government, in its knee-jerk response, decided that it will train teachers who will be teaching under the CBC. The teachers who were taken for this training, which was just basically in- service for a week or two, were lower primary school teachers. Research shows that teachers who were teaching lower primary schools were mostly mature female teachers in our rural 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."
}