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"id": 225464,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sambu",
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"id": 137,
"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion by hon. Ojode, which is quite crucial for urging the Government to urgently recruit more teachers for both primary and secondary schools. When the Government declared that there would be no payment of fees by primary school children, many children who had not been going to school began going to school. In many primary schools now, the ratio of pupils to a teacher is between 60 and 80 students. In fact, you will find one teacher teaching Standard I to Standard V, each class having 60 to 80 pupils. This is mostly the case in the lower primary. It is actually waste of time and resources. This is because the teacher in a class full of pupils cannot have time for the little children, who have not developed enough intelligence to know that they should listen, or pay attention to him or her. So, they will just be playing and the teacher will not be able to control them. In many places, parents cannot even afford to buy desks. Children, therefore, sit on the floor and do not have proper space to be able to write properly. So, it is very important that the Government employs enough primary school teachers to cover the existing shortage. The ratio which is effective is a maximum of 40 pupils per teacher. At one point, the teacher has to mark the pupils' books. If, for example, the teacher is handling four classes in a day, it means that if he gives exercises to 80 children in each of the four classes, he will have to mark 320 exercise books. That is not humanely possible. I think we are stressing this matter because it is very important. We may not be paying for the education, but it might not be useful, even if it is for free. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this has led to a situation whereby academies or April 18, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 707 private schools, and even some public schools, charge extra money. These cases are becoming too many because every parent feels that if they take their children to public schools, they will not learn much. So, if a parent has money, he or she will prefer to send their child to an academy. This is because the academy will employ extra teachers from the money it gets from the parents. Therefore, children from poor families, who cannot afford the academies, will not make it in their lives. I, however, support the academies. In fact, the top primary school in the Republic during last year's KCPE is in my constituency, that is St. Matthews, Kiplome. Well, for those who can afford to pay school fees there, let it be. However, the Government must support everybody. Therefore, the Government has to employ more primary school teachers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is an issue that has arisen. People are now accusing teachers in primary schools of not taking their work seriously, because they send their children to academies. Whether that accusation is true or not, the Government ought to solve the problem by employing more primary school teachers, so that we can have that ratio of 30 to 40 pupils per teacher. When it comes to employing teachers, the Government has to be cautious. The TSC has not been fair. We attend interviews in our respective District Education Boards(DEBs). We send the lists that have been recommended by the DEBs, but the TSC, somehow, manipulates the lists. I dare say that some undue influence is exerted. I would like to ask the Government to investigate this matter. For example, in the last recruitment of teachers in my district, we, more or less, agreed with what the District Education Board (DEB) had done. We, thereafter, sent the names of those who we had proposed to be employed to Nairobi. However, when that list reached Nairobi, the names of all the nominees from Mosop Constituency were knocked out. I keep on asking myself why that happened. That was not the first time! I think there is somebody at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) who is against the recruitment of teachers in some constituencies. Therefore, if this Government has the goodwill of Kenyans at heart, it should allow teachers to be recruited at the constituency level. The DEB should interview teachers at every constituency. In some constituencies, teachers who completed college in 1995 and 1996 are yet to be employed. In fact, most of them are aging. But in some other constituencies - I do not want to give names - those who completed college in 2004 have been employed. We have to employ teachers at the constituencies level. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the same should apply to secondary school teachers. They should be interviewed by the DEB and Board of Governors (BOGs). Once the DEB and the BOGs recommend teachers, TSC should not change anything. Why were the DEBs and the BOGs given that mandate only for the Government to change it here? It is very suspicious. I request the Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology to summon the Chief Executive Officer of TSC and his team to come and tell the Committee why TSC does not respect what DEBs and BOGs recommend. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support what other hon. Members have said; that we need more teachers in secondary schools. We should have a policy where children in secondary schools are day-scholars and not boarders, except in Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs). We should have day schools in high potential areas. That way, we will afford to give our children free education and, if not, charge lower fees. We should reduce boarding fees. In boarding schools, for example, parents have to pay between Kshs25,000 and Kshs30,000 per child. If a parent has four children in secondary schools and pays Kshs30,000 per each child, that translates to Kshs120,000. Day schools only charge about 9,000 and Kshs1,000 for lunch. That amounts to Kshs10,000 per child. If you have four children, the total will be Kshs40,000. That is three times less than what it would cost a parent to pay for four children in boarding schools. What is the need for boarding in secondary schools? In fact, I have read reports that state that Kenya is one of the few countries in 708 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 18, 2007 the world that still insists on having boarding schools. I insist that boarding schools should be restricted to ASALs. But, in high potential areas - like my area - where the catchments area for each secondary schools is four primary schools--- The maximum distance from a primary school to a secondary school is about five to six kilometres. So, why do we need boarding schools? The money that we are wasting in boarding schools should be used to employ more teachers to teach secondary schools effectively. That way, many students will pass their examinations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, after secondary school education, let us support the children who cannot make it to university. We should support them to go through technical institutes. They should enrol in youth and technical polytechnics for artisan and diploma courses. All over the world, nations have been built not by the degree holders--- Yes, the degree holders will invent, but the people who will implement are the tailors, carpenters, mechanics, welders and so on. Those are the graduates of youth polytechnics. I request this Government to employ instructors to equip youth polytechnics because it is the artisans and technicians who build this nation. When we were in school, we were told that Great Britain, one of the first nations to be industrialised, was a nation of artisans and small traders. So, let us support our children to get courses in youth and technical polytechnics. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, the Ministry should know that there are people who interfere with Government land when we want to build youth polytechnics. The Government should look at that issue in Nandi District. We want to build a youth polytechnic using the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money and some people are interfering. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}