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{
    "id": 401266,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/401266/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 319,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Government has left a lot to the county governments. As a result, you will find that there are some counties which have no such kindergartens or pre-primary rules; somebody just walks to school at the age of 12 years and he is taken to class one. That person will never get to Standard Eight because he has already developed some problems in his head. He will eventually drop out of school. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let there be a concerted effort from the Government to the county governments to make sure that every county government has its own well done, self regulated classrooms and teachers. Teachers who are trained to handle these young children should handle them well so that when these children go home, they also appreciate that they have been treated well. I happened to be the Chairperson of the Committee on Education in the Ninth Parliament. We went to Japan and we saw that kindergarten children were being given better treatment than children in other classes. They sit on very nice furniture. They also have very good toys. They are also given the laptops we are saying are not important in this country. How can we say that it is not possible to give children laptops when we have never seen them? We are just like children who have not been to good primary schools. The moment we develop good primary schools, we will develop children who love learning and children who will develop to be good citizens. It is important to note that county governments may have different feelings. They may want to employ teachers and that is good. They can do it because they have been doing it. However, if the Government does not step in to bring a regulation or a Bill with regard to the devolved systems, we will have counties that are lagging behind in terms of devolution of the education system which starts from the preprimary education. It is here where every child learns everything. This is the stage where writing starts. It is the stage where learning of other languages begins. These things should not be taken as a development issue where they are started in class three or four. I realised that in some schools, a class eight boy may not know how to spell some English words. However, in the urban centres, you will find pre- primary children who know how to participate in public speaking. Those differences will continue to emerge until you hear some people saying that the national cake is not being shared equally. This is being caused by inequalities which are equal to corruption. This is all being caused by corruption in the society. If we start corrupting education, right from the lowest level, we will have corrupted the society and it will be very difficult to correct it. The Motion seeks the support of the national Government. The national Government should assist county governments so that we all begin from the same slate. That way, we will encourage children living in areas which are said to be remote to be at the same level with others. It is through this system, the fibre optic system that we will connect to schools which are very far from Nairobi to benefit children in rural areas. These are children in Turkana, Pokot and in Tana River so that they learn the same way children in Nairobi, Kisumu and Nakuru are learning. This is because they will all be connected. We should support the project of the laptops. I beg to move and ask Sen. John to second. 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"
}