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{
    "id": 1284499,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1284499/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": "hardly communicate to anybody. A deaf child is a very unique child because this is a child who is well in all ways except that they cannot communicate. That is why it is very important that in this Bill, the Cabinet Secretary for Education considers these very special children in a way that they be provided for at a very early stage. In fact, somewhere in the Bill, we have also mentioned that these children should be in school under the integrated system. This is because the issue of integration is coming up internationally, that special children do not really have to be alone. How do we ensure that they are not alone? There is a proposal that we have put in this Bill; that we would like the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to have a curriculum that can be enjoyed by all our children. Mr. Speaker, Sir, at the age of six, children can learn anything. They can learn 10 languages. They can speak Luhya, Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Kiswahili and English at the same time and communicate to different people. Sign languages is one of those languages that we want to introduce. This Bill is trying to introduce that because it will be fun for the children but now, it will enable us to integrate these children. The Cabinet Secretary has a lot of obligation here. To get materials that can be taught; not only in the school but also in the training institutions. This is because what we need are teachers who can communicate and who go to any nearby school because this is a special child whose parents have not even decided where they will take them. You find that they go to regular schools with the other kids but when they go to school, they cannot communicate with anybody. So, we are also proposing in the Bill that these materials should be spread to other schools. We do not want it even to be a club but we want all the children to learn it. However, I will be mentioning it again a bit later. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Bill mandates the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KIE) to develop, review and approve appropriate programs and curriculum support materials for learners who are deaf or hard hearing. Additionally, the Bill requires the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the relevant bodies to develop a national system of standards, accreditation and procedures for Kenyan sign language interpretation. This is done with input from members of the deaf community. This Bill also empowers the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Kenya National Accreditation Agency (KNAC) and the members of the deaf community to regulate the provision of Kenya Sign Language interpretation. It is very important that this be regulated. We have seen mushrooming of people who are saying that they are qualified interpreters and those of us who do not know whether their interpretation is correct or not just assume that you hire somebody when you have a workshop. Currently, we are saying that we should have interpreters in workshops, meetings and conferences. We have been hiring interpreters without necessarily knowing whether the sign language that they are doing is the right quality or the right standard. So, it is very important that that is also regulated. So, this includes establishing procedures and criteria for the registration of interpreters and maintaining a register of the Kenya Sign Language Interpreters. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}