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{
    "id": 671027,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/671027/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 297,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "upside down. Why should you, as a Senator, find yourself being invited to a single stream school, started two or three years ago, with a population of 250 to 300 students, without a library, laboratory or the basic necessities to go and fundraise for the buying of a Kshs6 million bus? If you were to spend that amount to buy books, you would be able to change the lives of those students instantly. Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, I do not see how it is possible to convert the availability of a school bus into better grades in a school in the lifetime of that student. This is currently happening where a County Development Fund (CDF) receives a request to buy a school bus when the school has no equipment within the library, laboratory and books. This is something that needs to be addressed. I hope the Sub County Education Board can take this seriously so that schools are able to go for the necessary facilities in order of priority. This is, so that, if you have five schools in a zone and three of them have school buses, why do you need extra two buses? The schools whether public or private can have an arrangement of sharing some of these facilities so that they can invest their resources in better opportunities. The Bill also speaks to the issue of ECD. The Constitution has devolved this function to counties. However, what is happening now is that if you go to each county, they have different standards. In fact, in my county, Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers are serving on contract basis while ECDE teachers from the neighbouring Uasin Gishu County serve on permanent and pensionable terms. These teachers are serving generally within the same region yet others earn Kshs15,000, others earn Kshs10,000 while others earn Kshs7,000. There is need for standardization. If you look at the Constitution, the responsibility given to the national Government is to ensure that there are uniform standards with regard to the education sector. Therefore, whereas the ECDE function has been devolved, it is important to ensure that the constitutional function of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is retained within that particular institution, so that you have standard and uniform norms in terms of employment of the ECDE teachers. There should be uniform qualification, terms of service, salaries and a mechanism for progression within the sector in terms of teachers or tutors within the ECDE sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other very important element of this Amendment Bill is with regard to school fees. Whereas it is important and this Bill speaks to it that children who are unable to pay school fees should be supported to complete their education, we need to ask ourselves why we find situations where students have a lot of fees balances. This is because some schools are charging too much school fees. You may find a school in Nairobi which does not have a school farm and therefore virtually buys everything from the supermarket from milk and maize and they charge Kshs112,000. When you go to a school in the village in the same category of national schools, you will find that they have a very big school farm. You may find that they source their maize locally from the school farm and have a dairy section and, therefore, get milk from the school farm. Virtually, all the foodstuffs are gotten from the school farm yet they charge the same school fees as the one being charged by a school in an urban area with no opportunities and support from the school farm. 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"
}