Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 53793,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/53793/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 441,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Lesrima",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 178,
        "legal_name": "Simon Saimanga Lesirma",
        "slug": "simon-lesirma"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to begin by congratulating hon. Chanzu for bringing this Motion at this time when we are facing serious economic difficulties arising from the increase of prices of everything. I would like to support this Motion for the reasons that he has given. I want to congratulate the Minister and his team for managing the education sector well. In spite of all the negative publicity we occasionally get in the media and from other sources--- I say so because I know it as a person who, in the past, has been a Permanent Secretary (PS) in this Ministry for three years. I know that they are doing well and I want to encourage the Minister to keep on encouraging professionalism, in the manner he is encouraging the sector, in spite of the many difficulties that he faces, particularly financial ones. I do not want to speak for the Minister, but I am sure that his wish would also be that the resources are increased. I am sure that at the end of the day, he will request us to seek support from the Treasury to fund what has been proposed in this Motion. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, one of the biggest challenges that those of us from pastoral areas face is the question of enrolment. In many situations, the enrolment is below 50 per cent. I keep on telling my people that they are cheating themselves by not taking their children to school. If you take 50 children to school, and there are other 50 children who do not go to school, it means that they miss out even on the Kshs1,000 that is already provided. I must also say that the percentages have increased since the passing of The Children Act, and the introduction of the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme. We are now seeing massive enrolment in those areas, including my constituency. In fact, school management committees now say that they are having big challenges relating to overcrowding, particularly in the lower classes. I have come across schools which have over 150 children in one classroom. Therefore, there is need to increase the number of classrooms in primary schools. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, another phenomenon being seen in my county, if I may continue to give examples, is the introduction of day secondary schools. We have never had day secondary schools in my constituency since Independence, but in this year alone we have opened three day secondary schools. The biggest challenge we face is lack of teachers. We hope that, with an increase in resource allocation, it will be possible for some subsidy to go towards recruitment of teachers. I hope that with the support of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), which does not want temporary employment, we will be able to address the issue of teacher shortages in secondary schools. Another point I want to make is on management of resources, which is a very critical issue. However, I believe that, due to the transparent nature in which the Ministry has been disbursing the funds, those challenges will be overcome. When I visit schools in my constituency, I see the figures of the monies disbursed to them displayed on notice boards. The school committees are very much involved. I must say that there are very few cases of misuse of Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money by schools, but"
}