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"id": 207384,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Angwenyi",
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"legal_name": "Jimmy Nuru Ondieki Angwenyi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to thank all Members of Parliament who have responded to this noble policy issue. I would also like to thank the Minister for Education for supporting this Motion. By the way, this Motion was necessitated because we passed in this Parliament Sessional Paper No.1 of 2005, on Policy Framework for Education, Training and Research, in which we had clearly given the Government the authority to go and provide proper foundation for our kids in schools. But, as the Minister said, the Ministry seems to be overwhelmed by the demand to provide various levels of education. Therefore they, some how, neglected or forgot to address the issue of laying a foundation. What we are seeking here is to build an education house in this country. But we have not laid a proper foundation; a foundation in which we know that a child would have developed the necessary skills and needs for educational development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although we devote a lot of resources to education--- Approximately 25 per cent of our Budget goes to education. If we were to include early childhood education, we will need, according to my estimates, an extra Kshs6 billion. We can get Kshs6 billion by plugging off the siphoning holes of revenue from Government and spend that money. It is only Kshs6 billion a year for a start! As we expand that education, then we can devote more resources to it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, currently, proper early childhood education is a August 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3355 preserve of the rich. The rich who can afford that education in this country only comprise of less than 10 per cent of the population of Kenya. So, we are condemning 90 per cent of our children to a situation of no foundation in education, before they take up their primary education. I am glad that the Ministry had developed this policy, and it is here. This country has been assessed to be developing very nice policies and strategy papers, which it never implements. They always collect dust in our shelves. I would urge the Minister, since he has supported this Motion, to move with his experts and look for resources from whatever part. I hope hon. Members who have contributed to this Motion will be returned at the end of this year to give directions. That way, we will make sure that early next year, when we come back, the Minister will have looked for resources to give early childhood education throughout the country. That way, our kids will have a good foundation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we should not take that as a joke. Every time I pray to God, he normally grants. I am going to pray to God that all those Members who have contributed to this Motion are returned. He will also make sure that the Minister who has supported is also returned, so that we can challenge him to account whether he has implemented it or not. With those few remarks, I beg to reply."
}