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{
    "id": 401225,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/401225/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 278,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Karaba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 232,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Dickson Karaba",
        "slug": "daniel-karaba"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. This is a Motion regarding a Report by the Committee on Education and Information and Technology, on their visits to Vihiga, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii and Nyamira counties. I am a Member of this Committee. The Committee is doing very well. It has been going round the country trying to collect views on education and sensitizing the emotions of Kenyans with regard to the devolved function of education. We noted, in our trips, to the amazement of the Committee, that the devolved functions of the Early Childhood Education (ECD) are still lacking in most counties. This was exemplified in the four counties. There is very little preparedness regarding what should be done to preprimary children. We noted that as early as 6.00 a.m., you will find two year old children accompanying their sisters and brothers who are in primary schools so as to attend the kindergarten. When they get there, they stay on their own without any teacher. Most of the time, these children do not take breakfast at home. When they get to the primary school, they have to wait for their teachers to come at about 8.00 a.m. because that is when classes begin. The young children are left to struggle with stress. As a result, they lose interest in education and become unfriendly to the environment. They also lose track of education. The early age is what encourages or discourages children from attending school. By the time they get to class one or two, they have no interest with regard to learning. We also noted that not many public schools are ready to have pre-primary children classrooms on their compound. Even where there are classrooms for pre-primary children, they are not well done. Some of them have no windows and furniture. Children sit on the floor, apart from one school in Kisii County. The school administration does not bother about what is happening in the lower classrooms. The head of a school considers himself to be in charge of class one up to class eight. We also noted that class seven and eight pupils are given better facilities. They use better classrooms as opposed to the ones used by kindergarten children. So, this is what we noted. It is also regrettable to note that these children have no toilet facilities. They go to the same facilities where class one to eight children go to. Small as they are, you can imagine the kind of problems that they are facing. So, in some areas, they even prefer not to go to pit latrines. They go to the open thickets in the neighborhood of these schools. This is the kind of scenario which we saw in those schools. So, the Committee on Education, Science and Technology has been very concerned. They would like to probe further so that the pre-primary children are not just left to wander around the school. They are the pupils who should be considered even before thinking about those ones in Class Eight. Instead, not many parents bother with them. For the first time, we are having this department devolved to the county level. I know very soon, the county governments are going to take it up with the assistance of the 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"
}