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    "id": 400891,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/400891/?format=api",
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    "content": "We should introduce courses in polytechnics that are unique to our counties and encourage students to take up the courses. Sigalagala is a good example of a polytechnic that all other polytechnics should visit. Finally, I will now move on to the committee’s findings and conclusion. With regard to the curriculum, the committee is in the process of working with the Committee of Curriculum Development so that each county gets a standardised curriculum for Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme. We should not have different subjects being taught in different counties. In some counties that we visited, a child as young as two years goes to school from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm. If we had a standardised curriculum, then we would have particular times that these children can go to school. The committee proposed that the Kisumu model should be emulated by other counties where schools have their own farms and grow their own foods to feed children. When there is a school feeding programme, children tend to attend school in larger numbers. With regard to the ECD teachers, we realised that most of them are either not well trained or are not paid well. The committee is also pushing for better pay for the ECD teachers who set the foundation for our children. We are trying to sort this out between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the counties. In my opinion, the ECD is something that was devolved a long time ago. Communities have been taking care of children for a long time. They have been employing teachers through the Board of Governors (BOG) and have been organising the payment for teachers. We should come up with a solution that would cater for these teachers. We also dealt with the best classroom model. When you visit classrooms for class one up to class eight pupils, you will see that they are very good. However, children under the ECD programme are most of the time in tattered clothes and the classrooms are dirty. We are encouraging counties to develop the best programme. Children in the ECD centres should have the best classrooms because this is the foundation of learning. This is where a child forms his or her basis of learning. We also found out that most educational institutions lacked provision for the physically handicapped. We are recommending that each and every county should look into that. Children want to attend school at a place where they are welcomed. With regard to recommendations by the committee, we are suggesting to have the words “village polytechnic” removed. Each county should have a unique name that they can call a polytechnic so that the whole idea and mindset is changed. Somebody should not be left feeling that they went to a village school. That would encourage students to go to the polytechnics. In most countries, polytechnics build the basis of any country’s economic development. When students go to polytechnics and learn how to make tables, 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"
}