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{
    "id": 471592,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/471592/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 384,
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    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, if you look at the these reports, you will find that the actions that the CECs are taking at the county level have become a little bit more focused than they were prior to these visits. The reports we got from each of those counties were informed on the activities that the counties are supposed to undertake in accordance with the Constitution and specifically the Fourth Schedule. The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution gives very specific areas of concentration to the county governments. These areas of concentration is what we went to emphasize to the teams that we met and urged them to concentrate on improving those areas first, particularly the ECDs, nursery schools or otherwise known as kindergartens, the polytechnics that the CECs handle at the county level and the infrastructure of the institutions that I am talking about. The information that we got during these engagements--- In fact, the Committee coined the word CONES which is the County Oversight and Networking Engagements because part of our work is to network with the county executives and the chairmen of the committees that run the counties. A number of things were pointed to us as very important. The first one is how much Early Childhood Development (ECD) education has been ignored. When we visited Kwale, Kisii, Nyeri, Kisumu, Homa Bay among other counties, we saw how the ECD infrastructure was in a deplorable condition in those counties. Those classrooms are not worth the children of this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, education starts at the age of three and four years. It has been proven by psychologists and psychiatrists that it is at that point that children begin either to like or hate school. In many of the areas that we went to, children of between ages three and 6 years hated the experiences that they were going through. These children had nothing to eat or drink. It is a pathetic situation. In most of the counties that we visited we also spoke to the Governors. When we met in Mombasa with the County Executive Committees (CECs) we asked them: “What is the difference between when we left you and now?” We emphasized to them that it was critical that long before they start talking about the infrastructure of primary and secondary schools, it is very clear that they are charged with the responsibility of the ECDs. We also told them that the reason we brought in the chairmen of the committees in the county legislatures, was so that they could get assistance in budget terms from the county assemblies. When we brought the chairmen of the committees we told them that when the budget process starts, it is their responsibility to work with the CECs responsible for education and see to it that the county budgets reflect the Fourth Schedule. We told them that it would be wrong to budget for primary schools which are a national responsibility and leave out ECDs. In some occasions the Governors said that they had no problems with the ECDs. The only reason they thought they had no problems with the ECDs is that they had allowed such low standards of ECDs, particularly in the rural areas, that it has become acceptable that a three or four year old child can simply walk into something that resembles a classroom and it is okay. We called these people to these forums to tell them 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."
}