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    "id": 382825,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/382825/?format=api",
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    "content": "It is also important to realise that under Article 187 of the Constitution, the national Government retains the residual power. If a county is unable to abide by the agreement or is unable to give or deliver the function as provided initially in the agreement, then the national Government retains the power to recall the function and take it over at the national level. If there is something that is dear to many Kenyans and county governments, it is providing solutions when it comes to education and equipping educational institutions; primary and secondary schools. In any case, the Constitution already gives tertiary institutions to county governments. It also gives them the Early Childhood Education (ECD) institutions. Do you want to tell me that it is easier to build ECD classrooms and to equip them than to build Class Eight classrooms? It is easier to be given a function of Class Eight than to be a function of the ECD. Anyone who is a teacher will know that formation of a child from the ECD level; the three nursery classes traditionally used by many schools in this country is very difficult to deal with than equipping Class Eight classrooms or even Form Four classrooms because in this case, you are operating with a student who already understands. If a delicate function of taking care of children at a tender age; formative stage, was given to the county governments, what is so difficult in dealing with classes which are advanced at that level? What would be so difficult if they were given tertiary institutions; very important institutions which are used for training people who have completed Form Four and Class Eight? It is important that this infrastructure is delegated to the counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, one of the serious policy positions that we are not clear about - it is not even clear to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology - is what we should do to schools in Nairobi. If this Motion is not passed and a clear direction given by the national Government, there will be a crisis in terms of how you handle the schools in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu which were already being run by local authorities. That will mean that automatically, the county governments will let the institutions go and we will not have clear direction. This Motion is critical in initiating a policy discussion to transfer the functions to county governments and, therefore, legitimize the already existing position which is correct. We will all appreciate that under Schedule Four, even a very important function that is already allocated--- Sen. (Prof.) Lesan cited a very important function of immunization. I agree and support him and even encourage him to come up with a Motion that will encourage county governments to transfer the function of immunization to the national level. If you are immunizing people, this should not remain at the boundaries of your county. We should deal with this at the national level. There are certain health functions that have been transferred but which could have been handled better at the national level. That is one of them. These kinds of Motions will assist the national Government, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning and respective Ministries to come up with clear policy positions that will give them clear direction. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}