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{
    "id": 1560715,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1560715/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 666,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Dorothy Muthoni",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "There are 1.7 million people in our country who live with disabilities, which is not a small number. We should manage disabilities at a policy level. There are schools in this country that cater to various disabilities. Teachers who are specially trained to handle visually impaired children are in schools for the blind. We also have schools for the deaf and hard of hearing, which care for students and pupils in that category. We also have teachers who take care of children who are physically challenged and autistic. However, we have not determined whether we have sufficient institutions to care for those children. Are we giving this group of citizens a fair share of what the Government should provide its citizens? Have we equipped our schools correctly so that these special categories of persons can access everything they need to be comfortable? We found that the gadgets and equipment people with disabilities require are not available because they are too expensive. For instance, the blind need braille machines, the deaf need hearing aids, and the physically handicapped need special wheelchairs to take them from point A to point B. Sometimes those gadgets are not available because they are too expensive. We have occasionally proposed on the Floor of this House to have those items duty- free so that they are accessible, or for the Government to provide them for free. Unfortunately, a majority of the people who have children with disabilities are low-income parents who are not even able to provide for themselves. Hon. Temporary Speaker, when it comes to the teacher-student ratio, there are never enough teachers to take care of children with disabilities. The Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) trains various categories of teachers to care for children with various disabilities, but the ratio in these institutions is still insufficient. Children are taken to most of these institutions, but they do not get the specialised care required to advance their lives to a level where we can comfortably say that they can compete globally with other children. Hon. Temporary Speaker, in the developed world, children with any form of disability are well taken care of. All their bills are managed by their governments. In addition to education, healthcare is very expensive for this category of children. It is the responsibility of the Government to take care of children with disabilities. However, I do not want to discredit the Kenyan Government because under the leadership of His Excellency, President William Samoei Ruto, it has given cash transfers to this category of children to help improve their quality of life. I want to buy into the idea of the Departmental Committee on Education and Research Chairperson, who has clearly said that we need to integrate these children into normal institutions. This is the only way they can be more accepted in society. However, there are children with very severe disabilities who cannot be integrated. The Government must look at ways and means to give severely disabled children a fair share of their lives to socialise. While some may not be able to learn much in school because they cannot conceptualise anything, they must be given an opportunity to socialise and know that there is life beyond the confinement of their parents' houses. What happens to parents of severely disabled children? They cannot carry them on their backs to any institution or expose them anywhere because they do not have any other caregivers. They, therefore, need an institution where they can, at least, be taught how to cater for themselves. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is the responsibility of the Government to give every human being a chance to live life to the maximum, whether they are aware of where they are or not. Even the noise alone can wake them up and make them aware of the world. I strongly support this crucial Bill. If there is anything that is happening in the Departmental Committee on Education and Research that will take them to heaven, then it is thinking about this special category of persons. I support. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}