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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamunyinyi",
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"legal_name": "Athanas Misiko Wafula Wamunyinyi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion on the Vote of the Ministry of Education. First of all, I wish to state that I support this Motion. I will not take a lot of time, I realise hon. Members present want to contribute to this Motion. I have various issues which I think are of concern to me as the hon. Member for Kanduyi Constituency. I am disappointed that the Minister, in his budget, did not provide funds for Kibabii Teachers Training College. The Chair is aware that I have asked several Questions about this college. We have also discussed this college in this House. The holder of the highest office on this land, His Excellency the President, has also talked about Kibabii Teachers Training College. He said this is one of the colleges which were supposed to have been put up this year. We expected that there would be an intake of students sometime in September this year. However, this did not take place. I am very disappointed that the Minister did not do anything to give this college some provision in the Budget. Unfortunately, he also said nothing about it while moving this Motion. I am sure hon. Members are aware of the history of Kibabii Teachers Training College. This is an institution which has been very hotly talked about even in the past, that funds have been squandered by some officers and contractors, which led to the stagnation of the project. On two occasions, when His Excellency the President visited Bungoma District, he said the college was supposed to take off. I would like to ask the Minister and his officers in the Ministry to ensure that this college is not an issue again. If instructions come from the holder of the highest office in the land, and the other people, including Ministers and officers in the Ministry, do not act on what the President has said, then I do not understand this. There must be something seriously wrong in the Government if issues that the President has said should be done are not done. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, on the issue of employment of teachers, recently members of the board of governors were involved in interviewing teachers. I know these are policies and regulations of the Government. However, I am afraid that teachers who are properly trained and qualified are being subjected to interviews by some members of boards picked from villages in the rural areas. The issue here is not just the calibre of the members of the board, but it is worth noting that a lot of conflict arises where recruitment of these teachers involves a sibling or a kin of a member of the board. There is also conflict where there is a relative of a member of the board being interviewed and there are other qualified applicants. This is a serious conflict of interest. It is time the Government looked properly at the issue of hiring of teachers to the extent that all those who are properly trained and are qualified are not interviewed by people in the village. They should just be employed. There should be some order put in place by the Government that if, for example, there were teachers who graduated this year, they should be employed in the order of priority. As they graduate earlier, they are employed earlier. They should not necessarily be subjected to interviews by people who are not even themselves teachers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is on the funds for the Free Primary Education Programme (FPEP). A lot of money is being channelled to schools. This should be about Kshs1,000 for every pupil. There are some schools where there more than 2,000 pupils. That school is receiving a lot of money. What is the Government doing to follow up to ensure that this 3046 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 18, 2006 money is spent properly? I am sure that some of the teachers, who are members school committees, do not have the capacity to manage the kind of funds they receive. So, the Ministry must put in place some mechanism to ensure that there is sufficient follow-up, adequate inspection, audit and supervision to ensure that teachers and the management of school committees and boards are doing the right thing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) is doing a lot of work towards development of schools, particularly the construction of classrooms and other facilities at schools. At the same time, the Government is pumping in a lot of money into projects in schools. This needs to be harmonized to ensure that schools do not receive double funding, particularly where it involves accounting for some funds. One can easily confuse projects undertaken using the CDF funds and those done by the Government. I would like to ask the Government to ensure that these funds are properly spent. There is need to have follow-up, supervision and proper audit by the Government. Those found to have misappropriated funds meant for the FPEP, must be dealt with decisively to ensure that there is control. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}