Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 698251,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698251/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 118,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Odanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2286,
        "legal_name": "Geoffrey Makokha Odanga",
        "slug": "geoffrey-makokha-odanga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also want to add my voice to this Bill which has been brought here by the Senate. The ECDE has been neglected in this country for all these years, in terms of infrastructure, teachers and everything else. I am happy that this Bill makes ECDE to be given a place in the history and education of this country. This Bill proposes to have boards of management for each of the learning centres, whether they are attached to a primary school or stand alone, so that they are able to articulate the issues in those institutions. The registration and employment of ECDE teachers should be under one body. The TSC is the body mandated to register and employ teachers in this country. Even if this is a county government function, registration and employment of teachers should still remain under the TSC which should vet and see that teachers are qualified and trained to offer services. The Bill also tackles the issue of quality assurance and standards to make these institutions uniform. You will notice that some ECDE centres in this country have good facilities. This is the case with the ones that are privately run. However, if you go to the public ECDE centres in our counties and constituencies, you will wonder. In most cases, we assign the worst classrooms to children in ECDEs. They are mud-walled classrooms with no desks. Those that were well done, have poor ventilation. The windows and doors are not properly fitted and are not up to the standards. For the first time, this Bill seeks to cure such problems so that ECDE becomes very important among us. This is the very basis of education in this country as it is a partnership between the national and county governments. The county governments will do much of the infrastructure. I would like to see each ECDE centre having a good classroom fitted with good facilities for the pupils to learn. The national Government should also employ teachers through the TSC. We should further have uniform curriculum, salaries and scheme of service for the teachers. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we already have subsidised education in primary and secondary schools. I propose that we go the same way and have subsidised education in ECDE centres because this is where we have a real problem. There is no reason to give capitation to primary and secondary schools and neglect the ECDE centres. The county governments should 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."
}