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{
    "id": 140724,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/140724/?format=api",
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    "content": "highly qualified Kenyans; Kenyans who really care about this nation and the different needs of our society. As hon. Members, we do go to their offices to ask for assistance to support our schools in the rural areas. We always leave there officers with the impression that not only do they care but they are very sensitive. They truly want to make an impression; a genuine difference in their docket. I support this budget because it tries to address the core problem faced by the education sector in this Republic. The issue of under-staffing has always been a major problem. In my own constituency of North Horr, our schools are under-staffed by over 120 teachers. If I will get 50 teachers this year through this budget, over 40 per cent of my problems will be solved. Having ten more teachers for every constituency in our secondary schools, for sure, will go a long way in addressing one of the major problems we have been facing for a very long time. I want to stand on the Floor of this House and support the issue of contract-based tenure for our teachers. There is no job for life all over the world. A contract is the way to go and our teachers should be hired on contract. If they serve the country well, I am very sure there will be many more contracts for them in their lifetimes. But if they are not willing to deliver, like any other professional here and everywhere in the world, they should go and others who are willing and able to serve our children should be hired. I am also very much pleased by the fact that the governance in majority of our schools at the district, school and community levels is being given a chance. It is so important for our board of governors and school management committees to be empowered to hire and fire their teachers. One major problem we have is that there is very little that school management committees and even BoGs can do with their teachers. In our rural areas, North Horr being one good example, our schools open at the beginning of the school term; maybe even a week or two after the official school opening day simply because not much can be done to those teachers. But if the parents and the BoGs are really empowered to deal with those teachers, I am very sure that even if they will walk, they will find their times and ways to be at the school on the right day for our students to be served. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also support the idea of model secondary schools. There are thousands of secondary schools which were built by communities through Harambee but have failed miserably to serve the intended purpose. The mean grade of two secondary schools in my constituency – they are three but there are only two that are doing KCSE – is between D plus and D. This is simply because of poor facilities. They lack permanent classrooms, ICT centres, internet, reliable water, accommodation for teachers and many other facilities that are critical for those students to do well. When I was in secondary school, the classes used to start at 10.00 a.m. simply because my teachers had to walk for five kilometers every morning from Moyale Town to Butiye where Moyale Secondary School was built. Just providing, under this modern secondary school, accommodation for teachers will go a long way in enabling our students to do well in those secondary schools because teachers will have time to invest in their education. I would encourage the Ministry to consider the issue of school management and governance. As much as we invest in infrastructure and the staffing of our schools, it is very important for our BoGs and school management committees to be empowered to govern their schools as their own institutions; to be empowered to be custodians of those"
}