HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 213391,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/213391/?format=api",
"text_counter": 178,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maj. Madoka",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 254,
"legal_name": "Marsden Herman Madoka",
"slug": "marsden-madoka"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to join my colleagues in complimenting the Minister and his team of officers for the way in which they have worked to implement this free primary education. I think they have done a magnificent job, and we need to say how grateful we are. Having said that, there is a lot more to be done. The area which, really, concerns me is management of education in the districts. I go round the schools in my constituency and check the visitors' books. Not a single officer from the Ministry of Education visits those schools for the whole year. For me, that is the only way to know whether they have visited those schools. We did a research in the districts to try and find out what has contributed to the decline in the education standards. We found out that 80 per cent of the reasons were attributed to the Ministry of Education. So, I think there is a need for the Ministry to try and ensure that its officers frequently visit schools and keep the teachers on check. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I visited a secondary school at lunch time. There were only two teachers in the school. At 2.00 p.m., there was no teacher there, including the headmaster and deputy headmaster. At 2.30 p.m., that was when teachers started strolling in, yet classes were meant to start at 2.00 p.m. I wonder who is really responsible for trying to make sure that teachers really take up their responsibilities seriously. I also do not know what needs to be done about the headmasters. Many times, the headmasters have lessons to conduct, but they also have to attend various meetings in a week. As a result, nobody takes over their lessons. What do we expect from the students who miss their lessons? When the performance of schools in examinations goes down and you ask the teachers to explain why this happened, they say: \"We did not complete our syllabus.\" Who is responsible for ensuring that the syllabus is completed? I think it is important that the Ministry has its own system of ensuring that the syllabus is properly completed. This is because it is unfair to present students for examination, when they have not been able to complete their syllabus. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have also spoken about the need for teachers in every school to be able to meet the needs of the various subjects. I do not agree that we do not have enough teachers. I think, really, the Ministry needs to have an adequate provision in its budget and establishments, to be able to employ the teachers. There are many teachers who cannot be employed, simply because we do not have the funds. Maybe, the Ministry needs to look at this particular area, to ensure that, in the future, we do have adequate teachers to be able to cover the various lessons. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if a school is headed by a headmaster for ten years, and it has consistently performed poorly, I think something needs to be done. Equally, if a teacher teaches in a high school for ten years and the students continue to perform poorly in a particular 2630 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 18, 2007 subject which is taught by that teacher, again, I think something needs to be done. This is because we cannot always say that the children are the ones who are not bright. I think something needs to done, to try and ensure that we do give students a fair chance, to be able to get the right tuition."
}