Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 698201,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698201/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 68,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Nyenze",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1987,
        "legal_name": "Francis Mwanzia Nyenze (Deceased)",
        "slug": "francis-mwanzia-nyenze"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. I offer my support because it is very important. First, it makes ECDE learning compulsory. Many parents leave their children who have attained that age at home as they go to work. This is because many Kenyan parents belong to the working class. Once ECDE is made compulsory, it will be very good and convenient for parents because they will take their children who have attained that age to the ECDE institutions. All children in this country will also get an opportunity to go to school. We have a saying in Kikamba to the effect that “ ukonzawa wi mwiu. ” This means that a stick is bent when it is raw, but if you wait for it to dry, it will break. Therefore, at an early age of between three and six, you can mould a child by inculcating good behaviour and values. It is very important. Early childhood education is very necessary. This is the case and yet in some rural areas and poor neighbourhoods in cities there is very high population of children who do not go to school because the parents are not compelled to take them to school. Some are orphans while others do not go to school because there is no law. However, this Bill makes it compulsory. If you do not take your child to school, you will pay for it. This Bill is very important because it crystallises and consolidates many proposals in Government Sessional Papers and international commitments by Kenya such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Declaration on Education for all by 2015. The ECDE is crucial in the development of children, families and communities. The nation will see its benefits because it will have an impact. If you compare children who have not been through the ECDE and those who have been through to Standard One, you will see a very big difference. Therefore, early childhood education is very crucial and all of us should support it. It makes a child enjoy learning by playing with other children. It also enables a child to develop, understand and appreciate his or her culture and the environment. It also fosters a child’s exploration skills. It further helps a child to be creative, express himself or herself and discover oneself. There is nothing as good as supporting this Bill because it enriches a child’s experiences to enable him or her cope with primary school life later. It also develops a child’s aesthetic and artistic skills. This Bill solves many challenges facing ECDE. There are unregulated ECDE programmes in counties because ECDE is devolved. This Bill seeks to bring all those unregulated policies into one law. There has been the issue of low funding of ECDE centres. This Bill will solve that problem because counties will be forced to increase funding to ECDE 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."
}