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{
    "id": 391742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
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    "content": "So, we should use this opportunity that has been given to the county government to build on some admirable things in our society. I feel very painful when I hear that there are some two Kikuyu boys who were marrying each other in London. These are people who went to school, but because they did not have proper foundation in culture, they discovered that they can marry each other because wazungus are doing so. We should not support such moral and cultural decadence under the name of modernization. I think time has come for us to focus more on the curriculum and even as they learn other things, let them learn our own languages and culture. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of cost does not arise because the elite are paying through their nose for nothing. Nursery schools are more expensive than universities in this country. The more “white” it looks, the more expensive it becomes. Why should an African pay so much for “whiteness” so that his children can speak English through the nose and start laughing at Kiraitu Murungi because he speaks English in a Kimeru accent? When I meet Italians, we communicate although they speak English in an Italian accent. The French speak with a French accent. Why should I be ashamed of speaking English in a Kimeru accent? I have never claimed to be anything else other than a Meru who has learnt English as a second language. For our children to speak with an accent of the Queen’s English, we are paying more money than what a PhD student is paying in our universities. Do we not have better use of our money? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the media and the television stations are the primary teachers of our children. We should look at the content of our media programmes. When I spent some time in the United States of America, there were programmes for teaching children to read, write and sing along in an American system. Our televisions here have no programme for children although we now have Muga FM, Musyi FM and so on. I think time has come for us to insist on some content of our broadcasting houses, especially on Saturday morning when children are not going to school so that they can listen to other children singing and so on. I think this Committee has broken new ground. It is for us as Senators to discuss a policy paper here. I would urge the Committee to go and consult a little more with experts and bring to this House a Sessional Paper on early childhood development and education for us to debate. After that, they should introduce legislation which will quantify the recommendations in this report and some thoughts like those from the Senate Majority Leader. This should be translated into law for other Kenyans to follow and improve the children of this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}