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{
    "id": 601665,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/601665/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 140,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Pukose",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1458,
        "legal_name": "Robert Pukose",
        "slug": "robert-pukose"
    },
    "content": "fed? I wrote to the Ministry of Education to look for ways of how children from rural slums can be provided with a school feeding programme. It is a basic need, it is not an incentive. It is something that will make the child stay in class and get education without thinking of how they will get food. This Bill will also assist us in elimination of child labour. This will help several schools that are bordering areas around the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC). Issues of ADC fall within my constituency and it is important to note that it has taken so many years for the Government to pay salaries to workers. The previous Governments had backlogs of more than 10 years. The people who have worked in ADC without being given a salary are individuals who have worked for more than 20 years and now they live in squalid conditions. They are only given food and nyama to feed their families. When you cannot get basic salary to educate your child and do the necessary things, then it becomes very frustrating. Clause 9 proposes to amend the Act to allow private schools to charge an admission fee while admitting a child. We were interfering with private institutions. They should be allowed to charge whatever fee they want. It is a person’s choice to take their child to a private school, if he or she feels able to do so. We will be interfering with the rights of private institutions if we tell them not to charge an admission fee. They are engaging in business. They are entitled to charge an admission fee at whatever cost they desire. Clause 15 which proposes to amend the Act to enable private schools to follow different curriculums and not one necessarily approved by the Ministry of Education is also a key amendment. A private institution might want to offer a programme of their choice, such as the British system, American system or a system from a different country. They are entitled to that. Why should we inhibit them from providing a system that they feel they are comfortable with, and which they feel is marketable for them as an institution? That is a good amendment. Clause 18 proposes to amend the Act to ensure that public examinations are conducted as provided for under the Kenya National Examinations Act only by institutions of basic education, whose curriculum is registered as examinable by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). We should even go a step further and gazette those centres so that they are known. We have Kenyans who have been duped into registering for examinations in certain institutions, but when time comes for them to do their exams, they find that they were actually not registered. This is a good amendment. Clause 19 proposes to amend the Act to ensure that the Cabinet Secretary is involved in making regulations for integration of Madrassa, Duksi and pastoral programmes. This will allow the Cabinet Secretary and the Ministry to monitor what we are preaching in our institutions so as to avoid the issue of radicalization. Otherwise, you will find that the Madrassa, Duksi and pastoral classes will be preaching radicalism within those institutions because the curriculum that they are covering is not regulated. We need to have that regulation. I agree with Hon. Gumbo on the issue of the County Education Board having a data bank of the university students from each constituency. That should also be funded. If you have a data bank but you do not have funds, how are you going to ensure that those children complete their studies? The Committee should work hand-in-hand with the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the National Treasury to make sure the County Education Board is funded. With those few remarks, I thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}