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    "id": 391693,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391693/?format=api",
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    "content": ". The title for these schools has not been agreed upon. It is one area that should be looked into so that it is rectified. Secondly, the issue of staffing of ECD centres is very crucial. Most ECD centres we visited were poorly staffed. Most of the staff that was available said they were poorly paid. In fact, we found institutions where teachers in ECDs were offering services free of charge. They were very demotivated as they gave services to the ECD schools. The other issue we observed is that the physical facilities or the infrastructure was very poor. This was even poorer in public schools as opposed to private institutions that we visited that offered ECD. We then made certain recommendations that are contained in this report, so as to improve and harmonise ECD learning in this country. We also had several visits to polytechnics. We saw many things in the polytechnics. One of the striking things that we saw, which was also reported by almost every county that we visited, was that in the past few years, the growth of polytechnics has been diminishing. This has been a consequence of the growth of universities that have turned some of the good polytechnics into universities. This has had a tremendous impact in the growth of middle level skilled manpower because the institutions were closed and converted into universities. It was, indeed, a worrisome thing to see that these institutions were converted into institutions offering other skills which could otherwise be offered elsewhere. The other thing we saw was that there was a complete lack of curriculum in almost all the polytechnics that we visited. The curriculum was not harmonised. It was not organized in a manner that an individual would qualify with a credible diploma. There was also lack of diversity because most polytechnics offered similar courses. It was thought that some polytechnics should offer different courses by simply diversifying the curriculum that had been provided. There was definitely lack of qualified teaching staff, except in one institution in Nyeri where we found the head of the institution with a Masters Degree. We thought this was excellent. In fact, this was manifested by the programmes and the projects that were being run in that institution. This, indeed, showed that this was an individual who was qualified to run that institution. This is an observation that we did not make in the other polytechnics that we saw. The last thing we were looking at when we went out was in the area of the ICT. Information Communication and Technology as you are aware, is the backbone of our development and mode of communication in the times to come. We thought that this is one of the facilities that should be available in the 47 counties of this country. I am happy 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."
}