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{
    "id": 391738,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391738/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 287,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 93,
        "legal_name": "Kiraitu Murungi",
        "slug": "kiraitu-murungi"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. First, allow me to most sincerely and warmly congratulate our Committee on Education and Information Communication led by the very able Chairman, Sen. Kagwe, who has pioneered the work of Committees in this House by touring the country, listening to the voices on the ground and identifying gaps on what the mandate of this Senate should be. It is the mandate of all the county governments in the Republic to support and promote ECD. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Governor of Meru and his Government for pledging and providing funds during this financial year to construct one ECD class in all the primary schools in Meru County. I also want to thank them for starting a process of recruitment of over 1,000 ECD teachers in all the pre-primary education institutions within the Meru County. I believe going forward, we will be able to enhance and strengthen the foundations of our education, not only in Meru County, but also in other counties in the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the only request we are making of them is - and I hope they are listening – because there have been pre-primary schools already in existence, instead of building new schools, they can also strengthen the schools that exist. Instead of hiring completely new teachers, we can retrain the teachers who are there and who have been surviving on meager salaries and allowances. This is because these teachers have shown commitment to the children to continue what they have been doing, but with more skills and better working environments. This Report has really thrown a spotlight on ECD and education in this country. One of the gaps which have been clearly identified is lack of standards, policy and legislation in this critical area of our society. Although most neglected, this is the most important pillar in our education system. We have been talking about standardizing early education. The Senate Majority Leader talked about us taking our children to school too early. Sometimes one would understand that our society is patterned on industrial economy where people have to wake up very early to go to work and come back in the evening. I believe many parents are stranded. They do not know what to do with children when they are away. So, the focus is really not on what the children are learning in these schools, but the fact that there is somebody to babysit and look after the children when the fathers and mothers are working. I think, socially, that is the greatest function being served by nursery schools. In disagreeing with the Senate Majority Leader, I think it is better for the children to grow up together than for them to grow up isolated and bored in different homes. If we can bring them together so that they learn how to sing together, to talk faster and to communicate, that is a very good thing for this society. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a school we really have to commend, called Mathari Kindergarten where my children and the children of Sen. Orengo and other people went to school. When we were a bit younger we went there and confronted the headmistress and asked her why she was wasting time of the children because 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."
}