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{
    "id": 400940,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/400940/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
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    "content": "education. For a long time, just like many of the previous contributors have said, including Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki, when you visit many schools and other institutions, the ECD centres are in the worst state. We know that in most situations in the rural areas, many children are unable to go to these institutions. The worst paid teachers in this country are the nursery school teachers. In most places of my county, up to now, a nursery school teacher earns about Kshs2,000 a month. This is nothing, but volunteer work. I want to confess that I never attended nursery school because one had to walk for 11 kilometres to go to school. So, going to nursery school was not possible because at that age, it was not possible for a child to walk for 11 kilometres. Madam Temporary Speaker, the opportunity has come for the county governments to put money and build institutions that will help our children get the best education. The foundation is very important. There was a research that was done by an NGO, I do not remember very well, but it was done by Elimu Yetu Coalition some few years ago. It found that in most rural areas, a class seven people could not be compared with a pupil joining class one in an urban area in Nairobi, for example. The one who was joining class one had the ability to read, make correct pronunciations, appreciate the world and have a more understanding of the worldview than the one in the rural area. These inequalities must be stemmed out. County governments must use this opportunity to put resources in building institutions and hiring teachers who will serve in county governments. There are many teachers who have trained in early childhood education. It is my proposal that the most paid teacher should be the ones in nursery schools because the work of introducing a child to understanding letters, figures, how to add and subtract and pronounce words is the hardest job, harder than teaching a pupil in class eight, who is already able to appreciate the procedures due to the foundation that was laid at the lower level. Therefore, in terms of setting the salaries for early childhood education teachers, they must be higher than the ones for a teacher in secondary school because the work they are doing is more difficult and complicated. I am willing to join hands with all Senators so that we can look into this issue. I hope that the committee can lead us in this venture. They can come up with a draft legislation that will overhaul the ECD system and ensure that funding, salaries and the institutions are working. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know there is a problem when it comes to correlation between the transfer of functions and institutions to the counties. The national Government and the county governments need to work very closely to ensure that the transfer of the institutions and facilities that are necessary for counties to take over is done expeditiously. I urge that the resources needed to run those institutions are devolved as soon as possible. Again, this House will provide leadership in terms of ensuring that the structures, the legal framework and the guidelines are there. In particular, the Transition Authority (TA) should take up this matter very seriously to enable the counties take over the functions expeditiously. I beg to support the report. I also commend the committee for a good report. I can see they have copies of pictures in the report. This is a true record that they just did not cook this report, but they collected it from information from the ground. Madam Temporary Speaker, with those remarks, I beg to support. 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"
}