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"id": 185398,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. ole Lankas",
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"legal_name": "Lankas ole Nkoidila",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to support this very important Motion. It is important because it touches on a very important sector. I support this Motion because recently we had the hon. Minister in the greater Narok where he officiated over a very important function and he addressed quite a number of issues in that forum. I want to echo the sentiments of my colleague, Mr. ole Ntimama, who said that there are a lot of challenges for this Ministry of Education. When he said that, I am standing as somebody who comes from some of these districts which are actually marginalised. These are hardship areas. They are marginalised and for many years, traditionally they have been performing very poorly. These are districts within this country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, when I was with the Minister in that function, I echoed the same sentiments. What is wrong that we never perform like other districts? The facts are known. These are hardship areas. They are far from development. Some are actually at the periphery of this country and, therefore, it is a problem for the Government officers to reach there. So, the issue of infrastructure is a big problem when it comes to performance in some of these areas. I am glad because the Ministry of Education has come up with a way of trying to address infrastructure in certain areas. Recently when I was in the District Education Board (DEB) meeting, this issue of infrastructure came up; how those in inaccessible areas can be accessed. So, if that one can be addressed, I think it will contribute to some of these critical areas performing like other areas. I want to encourage the Ministry to go in that direction because those are some of the things that are actually good indicators. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are talking of this Grand Coalition Government and we are saying that it must perform. One of the indicators of performance is in the education sector because you cannot talk of development without talking about education. It is the key to 2518 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 7, 2008 everything. So, I am saying these are some of the challenges we have and I want to commend the Ministry for that. There is the issue of public schools versus private schools. This is an issue that has always been coming to my mind because you find that private schools are for the rich. Our children are in those schools. We are not rich but they are there. We are paying dearly for them to be there. The public schools are left for the poor Kenyans. Now, one wonders who owns these private schools. Is it the same teachers? Is it the Ministry officials? Is it the rich in society who are trying to kill the public schools? This is because if you go to a public primary school like one in my constituency, you will find about 1,000 children in one primary school and you expect about ten teachers to teach them. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we talk of free primary education. Yes, we have the numbers. The classrooms are full of pupils but in those schools you only find, maybe, eight or seven teachers. In a class of 60 or 70 pupils, there is one teacher. How will that school be expected to perform? We go around and say yes, we are providing free primary education. We have sung that song. We have boasted about it even internationally; that we have given free primary education, but is it quality or quantity that we get? These are some of the challenges stalking the Ministry of Education and I think they should try to measure up to them. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, when we talk of the budget that was presented before this House, the amount is colossal but we hope it will also reach every corner of this country. It should not be concentrated in certain urban areas like what teachers are doing. This is because if you compare a school in the rural areas and one in the urban areas, you will notice that teachers are overflowing in urban schools but in the rural schools you can hardly get them there. So, there is inequality in the distribution of teachers. So, through the Chair, I want to address the honourable Minister and tell him that there should be that equal distribution of teachers. There should be that deliberate effort. As my colleague, hon. ole Ntimama, said, we must make those radical changes. All the children in this country are Kenyan children, whether they are in the furthest corner of this country, or here in Nairobi. Unless we do that, we will be coming here, singing the same songs everyday. So, I want to appeal to the hon. Minister to make those deliberate and radical changes. We are crying as marginalised communities. It has been the cry over the years, but we have not seen any change. Regimes have come and gone, but we are still where we were. But I am praying that this time round, when we have the Grand Coalition Government, we are going to see positive changes in this sector of education. When we talk about entry points to teachers training colleges, you cannot expect a child in a certain hardship area to perform like an advantaged child here in Nairobi. But you will find that they are rated in the same way. If it is a \"C\" and above, you can hardly get those marks in some of these disadvantaged areas which are known to be hardship areas. So, what we are requesting is that there should be that deliberate effort to address some of these issues. Recently, we got an allocation of 137 students to join teacher training colleges. But the local people were only able to get 30 students. The remaining number was to be split all over the country. The beneficiaries are people who are using that district as a stepping stone. Once they finish their training, they go back to their home districts. Now, we go back to where we started. These are the issues that the Ministry should sit down and solve. The Ministry should ensure that once those teachers finish their training, they should go back to teach in schools in the districts where they were recruited for a number of years. That is because the moment they finish colleges, all of them are transferred. They go back to where they want. So, the districts from where they were recruited do not benefit. These are some of the critical areas that need to be addressed. I am saying that looking at the Minister and believing that he is going to take note and see what can be done. We are just pleading to be heard. We are not October 7, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2519 complaining for nothing. It is bitter! Something can be painful but it can help. So, as much as some people might think that we have no issues, they are there. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, tuition is another issue that is on focus. The Ministry should come up with some guidelines regarding that issue. That is because there is tuition still going on even when schools are closed. The amounts that are charged for tuition are not known. Some parents are being exploited. Some of these things can mean a lot. Either the child is over- worked or the parents are over-charged. The morale of some parents actually goes down as a result. The moment you refuse to pay for tuition for that child, they start harassing him or her. So, something radical needs to be done to try to improve education in this country. That is because right now, in some areas, there is a problem. We must face that problem head on. I am encouraging the Minister to do that because there is a big problem. The issue of private schools against public schools is another challenging problem which we also need to address. Otherwise, much has been said about hardship areas. Teachers' promotions in some of those areas is limited. I do not know why. Teachers actually have a problem in getting promoted in some of those areas. So, that should also be evenly distributed so that their morale is also boosted. Those are some of the issues which I wanted to address. I beg to support this very important Motion."
}