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{
    "id": 515342,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/515342/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I would want us to examine the whole system of education. Why was it called the 8-4-4 and it had some exit levels? Of course, they did that because they were training their workers for different kind of works. Today, we still treat the KCPE exams as an exit point. To me, it should be an entry examination. It should be able to guarantee that every child should get 14 years of straight education. Without considering what grade you got in KCPE, you must finish up to Form Four. We can only do that if we have enough allocation in terms of infrastructure. As it is right now, we are not actually building any more secondary schools. So, where do we take those children, some of whom are16 years old? You condemn their lives by telling them that they have failed. What we are breeding is a time bomb just about to explode. This has happened over several years; it has not started this year. You can interpolate from what we already have this year, 200,000, to the last five years. Studies have shown that if you go up to Class Eight and stay out of school for 10 years without touching a book, you become illiterate. You go to the point where you look like you have never attended school. That is not only immoral, but also ungodly. We cannot go on like this as a country. However, I do not want to join in the condemning; like Sen. G.G Kariuki said, we condemn a lot and we are very good at that. We need to make sure that we move forward. Changing the names, to me, will not be enough. What we need to push for is the equalization. Whether we do it by policy or through another Bill, every school should have the basic facilities in terms of having a library and laboratory. We must have the basics. However, as long as some of the schools are still struggling to put up classes while others are torn between getting chicken or beef for lunch, which is unheard for in some schools, then this inequality will still go on. I am also of the view that in terms of generating brains and intellect, we should not also kill that categorization spirit. I think that we can still use the national and provincial schools as yardsticks; that maybe over time, every school should be brought to that level. I am totally opposed to the devolution of education and I will tell you why. Everytime I walk into a school in my home area, I can tell which class is an ECDE class. If it is in existence, I normally do not need to be told. The most dilapidated structure in that compound would be an ECDE class. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have put ECDE as a county function. We need a demonstration of how this can be done. If a county can adopt what the Committee on Education has done with Sen. Kagwe, and that is why I support the conditional devolution. If you can demonstrate you can deal with ECDE, because that is the most important stage of a child, every time you walk through the villages in the morning, you will meet children crying. They cry because they are afraid of where they are going. The classrooms do not even have a floor. I was showing Sen. Mshenga some photos from a 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."
}