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{
    "id": 698272,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 139,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Bunyasi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2511,
        "legal_name": "John Sakwa Bunyasi",
        "slug": "john-sakwa-bunyasi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First of all, I wish to make a specific request that my speech be considered a maiden speech because I am a new Member of Parliament on an ANC ticket. I ask that the time limit on my contribution be waived. This Bill is timely. The Bill seeks to address issues in the important sector of education, but I am not entirely enthusiastic about the way it has been structured. There are many important clauses that my colleagues have spoken about that I will not get into for the sake of avoiding repetition. I start from Clause 5, which says that every child has the right to compulsory early childhood education in a public institution. That is a big and bold statement. As you read through the Bill and you look at the way we manage our public funds, it will be a mandate without funding. It is an underfunded mandate. Right now, the Government has great difficulty in meeting the expenditure requirements in schools in terms of teachers, infrastructure and feeding where that is supposed to be the case. Parents are forced to chip in, in a huge way. We are now adding an additional requirement, but I do not see any proposals that would assure that the funding of this new mandate is available. I am concerned about yet another mandate that stays unfunded. Therefore, its fulfilment may fall far short of expectations that are going to be raised by virtue of this Bill. As I said, there will be lack of facilities, teachers and materials. The public sector cannot afford to pay, as I speak, even primary school teachers. We are now going into early childhood, which increases the problem. So far, we cannot provide materials. The variations across regions are so blatant and glaring that I do not know how this is going to be implemented fully. The Bill says that early childhood education refers to a child between the ages of three years and six years. It makes a difference whether the time a child must go to school is when the child is three years or six years. This is because primary schools admit children only at the age of seven years. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, if you start nursery school at six years and spend two years there, you will get too old for primary school. We should not behave the way we did during the colonial times. There are regional variations when a child starts school. In Nambale Constituency, Busia County, three years would probably work if we invested in facilities. In other regions, a 10 year old child might not even be old enough to go to school because of the distance he or she has to cover. Some areas lack physical facilities unless we have mobile institutions. Trying to legislate across the country that three to six year olds should attend school, is unrealistic. 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."
}