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{
    "id": 53816,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/53816/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 464,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Odhiambo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 119,
        "legal_name": "Alfred Bwire Odhiambo",
        "slug": "alfred-bwire"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to contribute to this Motion. We wish to congratulate the Government most sincerely for thinking about poor Kenyans who could not afford to take their children to school and, as a result, it introduced free primary education. That has enabled many parents to take their children to schools. As it has been said, the Ministry has done its best to ensure that funds are released to schools depending on the enrolment. But it was just yesterday when we were complaining about the cost of living in this House. That affects everybody else, including parents, children and teachers, in particular. So, we are supporting this Motion because between the years 2003 and 2011, the cost of living has shot up. It is a realistic thing. We must accept that as a result, therefore, to enable the schools to be managed successfully, we support the Motion. The Government should definitely increase the amount given to both secondary and primary schools. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when this money is increased, good head- teachers who will use it prudently can even save something small which can be used to employ some of the staff because I know that in both primary and secondary schools, we have teachers who are working on terms of the Board of Governors (BoGs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) and normally they are paid directly by the schools and not the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). By increasing this money, a good head-teacher will be able to save something small and use it to enhance the quality of education in his or her school. I also want to say that the quality of education in public schools has gone down. We witnessed that during the Form One selection. There was that problem where it was decided that the ratio of those going to national schools from public schools should be bigger. This is because they are not performing well compared to private schools. The reason is because they are not sufficiently furnished with equipment and other necessities. The cost of books, equipment and other things has gone up. So, public schools cannot compete favourably with private schools because they do not get adequate funding. As we go on doing this, the children of the poor who normally go to public schools will be disadvantaged and the children of the rich who can afford private schools"
}