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"content": "I would therefore like to ask Governors to embrace them so that they are able to love the children who join pre-primary schools. Some of them join these schools when they are three years old. You can imagine at three years, the child may not be able to go to the toilet, they use potties and are even fed. So this teacher is like a nanny to the child. For me, the issue of remuneration is very critical and I would like to request the county governments which are going to take care of this to ensure that we look at their salaries and welfare generally. I know with the little funds the Governors have, they can ensure that every ECD facility is provided with lunch or even just porridge. In this country, even porridge is so precious to some of us than we can imagine. Some of them even go for very long distances just to get some water. In Nairobi, we may not know how precious water or even porridge is because it is always available. If the children or their parents know that there is always a cup of porridge every morning, they will be encouraged to bring their children to school. I want to plead with the corporate organizations in the different counties to also donate some commodities to those schools. It must not be only money but even maize meal for porridge or even Cerelac. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I want to talk about the high number of school dropouts. I know when we were looking at the ratio of primary going children to high school, as parents, we became very worried. This is not just in the coastal region but in many regions. We are also looking at the quality of that education and we are saying that we need to re-look at the whole package. The parents must be responsible for their children attending school. It is not only the duty of the teacher to inculcate values into a child. Parents should also be responsible for instilling good values in their children because today if you look at the children at different levels, as parents, we sometimes get agitated to the point of wanting to go back to school to insult the teachers whereas in some cases, we have neglected our responsibilities. Sometimes it is important for parents to take care of that homework. We should ask ourselves: “My child came in the evening; what was in the bag?” This is because, of late, we have left the duty of parenting to the nanny. In the morning, the nanny has to understand what your child is carrying, be it a bottle or biscuits – I do not know if there are those who like giving biscuits, because there are those of us who are a bit strict and we say we want her to carry a healthy break. But, at the same time, we do not want to even look at the book or the diary. You will even find the teacher complaining that the parent has not been signing the diary for one month. But since maybe you are a Parents Teachers Association (PTA) member and you are supposed to go and monitor the class, when you look at how the teacher is really crying out that “parents are not doing this” or “parents are not doing that,” then you wonder, since you are also a parent at that time, then how do you engage? So, for me, I think parents should also take back that responsibility. If we take back our responsibility, that this is my child; that, indeed, I want him or her to excel, then I must first do the right thing; let my child have that normal discipline. That is the discipline that which when you enter into school, you feel you are proud to be in that school. But that is something that is also worrying, not just outside Nairobi, but within the urban areas. Many schools are facing that challenge and it is because of our lifestyle as parents. I know we are working; we wake up very early in the morning; you will find some of us with our kids at 4.00 a.m., going to school. You drop them off in school and then maybe pick them up late in the evening, and by the time you are arriving at home, you are exhausted. I know that during the days of Thika Road, before the super highway, parents would do homework as they go; they will arrive home late and the kids would go to bed and in the morning, at 4.00 a.m.,"
}