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{
    "id": 238820,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/238820/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 243,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Khamasi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 300,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Lyula Khamasi",
        "slug": "daniel-khamasi"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Chair may not know, but we know! Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a problem in that province. We need officers who are alert and who can come and correct things that have gone wrong for years. We need officers who will be committed to change in that province. I remember when I and my colleagues from Western Province had an opportunity to visit the Director of Education, the Permanent Secretary and then Minister for Education, Prof. Saitoti. They clearly promised to look into the issue. But nobody has bothered to date. Instead, they have continued to do exactly what they have done over the years. In Kakamega District where I come from, we have an officer who does not care anything at all about the people he serves. People cannot go to his office, teachers are scared of him; why is he there? Who is he serving? A man who works only two days in a week. He is there on Tuesday and Wednesday, he leaves on Thursday and he comes back on Tuesday. Are these the sort of officers we want? This is a matter that should be looked into, if we need to improve the standards of education in that province. As we are speak here, teachers have threatened to go on strike because of the problems of their agreement with this Ministry. This cat and mouse game is now tiring. Can this Minister, for once, move and, at least, get this matter sorted out? Can this agreement be fixed once and for all? Teachers are very important and we need to treat them as such. Let us not think that they are like the children they teach. They also have brains. Let us treat them very seriously in the manner that they deserve. I want to say something little about boards of governors. We are invited by the principals of schools to go and nominate members of the boards of secondary schools. It takes years, if not very many months for this Ministry to approve those recommendations or nominations from the boards. We understand it is only the Minister who can sign that recommendation. Surely, is this a job for a Minister? I am sure Dr. Wekesa does not need to do this job. I think he is a senior man. He is busy dealing with much more serious things than just signing those documents. We have appointments made last year that have not been approved up to now. One wonders why it should take all that long for this Ministry to approve the boards. October 18, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3043 Then, we also need to look at how we can discipline the boards which are not performing. In Western Province, we have had strikes in schools which spread like wild fire. Not less than ten schools went on strike almost in the same month. The way those strikes have been handled has been very poor in many cases. I was horrified. A very senior officer from this Ministry goes to a school which had a strike and parades the children and tells them, you know, \"you are very responsible, nobody can dictate things to you and you must sit on the table and negotiate with your teachers and the board.\" He picked money from his pocket and gave to a student and told her to ring him when she sees these people here making a mess. Surely, what kind of discipline is that for that student? That school is in trouble now and it will never recover. Even if it recovers, it is going to take us a very long time. This habit was from a very senior official in this Ministry. It is a shame! Lastly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to just comment briefly about the Inspectorate Department. They are very active on the ground. A colleague here has mentioned about the scheme of service. The inspectors earn much less than the people they inspect. Surely, this should be the reverse. Somebody should have looked at this and corrected that anomaly. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}