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{
    "id": 401262,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/401262/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 315,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we missed pre-primary education in our education system, we have missed education in our country in totality. What I meant to say in this Motion is that there has been haphazard development of structures or infrastructure at pre-primary level. You will find that pre-primary or Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes have been neglected; you will find that even the way teachers are recruited, it is like they are picked from anywhere and they might not even be trained. We noted that some of these teachers are even volunteers. They are not on a payroll nor are they paid by anybody. They have nobody to turn to in case of emergencies. Therefore, the pre-primary sector of education is totally neglected. It is regrettable that even the teachers who are there, their training background cannot be ascertained. We do not know how they are trained, we do not even know how much they earn. Every county has its own salary structure. Some of them have no salaries at all and some of these people cannot be disciplined in case of negligence. This is the state of affairs that we continue witnessing in the lower levels of our education. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we talk about education, it is at this level that we are supposed to build a firm foundation for our education. If education is not sound from this foundation level, we will regret later on when the children get to other higher levels of Standard Four, Five or Six. When they get to Standard Eight, you realize that their behaviour will be just like pupils who have not gone to school. They will be indisciplined, their manners wanting and have no respect towards the elders, and so forth. This is because there has not been proper training. It is in these formative years or stages that the actual training of a child begins. The developmental stage of the cognitive and psychomotor domains; these are the psychological aspects of the developmental mind of the young children, is supposed to be developed. If these skills are not developed; that is, the skills of speaking, reasoning and so on, we would have lost a whole generation. Later on, we will regret about the spate of strikes in several schools. You will find a high number of students dropping out of school or that the school dropout rate being very high. Sometimes we complain about the low transition rate of pre-primary to Class One or from Standard Eight to Form One. That is the problem, without knowing that these problems stem from the grassroots or the pre- primary level. It is, therefore, important to note that the basic requirement of education starts before a pupil joins Standard One. We need to develop these skills right through Standard Two, Three and Four. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also noted that our parents have almost neglected their responsibilities. They have stopped babysitting their children at the age of two or three years. All they do now is take them to nursery schools and kindergartens, where they are left at the mercy of employees or `teachers.’ These are not teachers; these are people who have been collected sometimes even from the streets to go and teach children in these nursery schools. The modeling which will be given by these untrained and ‘uncultured’ teachers will be wanting. This is a teacher who has no hope of being paid his or her salary at the end of the month. This will make this teacher not impart any knowledge or information to these young girls and boys. 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"
}