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"id": 698320,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698320/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
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"speaker": {
"id": 1264,
"legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
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"content": "ECDE, you realise that some ECDE centres are privately run in private schools. More than 95 per cent of public ECDE centres are found within the premises of public primary schools. The TSC Act clearly defines who is a teacher. In the definition under the TSC Act, all teachers belong to the TSC. However, a teacher who is qualified to teach at ECDE centre is qualified to do so up to Standard Three. In real sense, we are saying a teacher who is trained and acknowledged by the TSC is able to teach ECDE classes, whether they are starters or finishers, through to Standard Three. The more they are placed in a primary school the better. In real sense, we are saying that ECDE centres in this country, in terms of physical structures, are countable. The trainee teachers in ECDE colleges are from the TSC. The issue of standards, curriculum and quality assurance are national Government function. If you look at all these things, you will realise that this is exactly where this Bill ought to have made these issues practical. In my view, this Bill is failing. A lot has been done in terms of the timing, but there are certain details that this Bill ought to have looked at very seriously, if we are to move forward as a country. There is a big problem between the TSC and governors in terms of exactly where ECDE teachers belong in this country. By definition, teachers are trained. They are supposed to be under the TSC. Once they are posted to ECDE centres, they perform a county government function. They need to be posted with a package done by the TSC. That is why I wanted to bring out these three areas as captured by the Constitution. In this area, in terms of the provisions of Article 6 of the Constitution, we need to appreciate that the governments are distinct and hence the issue of interdependence. In terms of Article 187, again this applies. Clearly, that is what this Bill needed to have picked. Article 189(2) provides that governments at each level and different governments at the county level shall cooperate in performance of functions and excise of powers and for that purpose may set up joint committees. This Bill ought to have brought out the issue of joint committees so that we address some of the challenges that we have. The spirit of the Constitution anticipates that there are certain functions, as much as they are clearly in the national Government docket that could well be done by the county governments. There are certain functions that belong to county governments, but if the counties are not ready to do them, they need to be done by the national Government or a commission. If this Bill was to do justice to this country, it would have brought elements where those things are supposed to be balanced out. We would have ended up with a situation where things would make sense. As it is, we are in a situation where the ECDE centres are going to be primary schools as I have indicated. If this does not happen elsewhere, it happens in my constituency where over 95 per cent of ECDE centres are part of primary schools. They are within the precincts of the primary schools. That is exactly where there is another problem. The Bill is talking about a principal of an ECDE centre. A principal, in the understanding of all, should be a principal that is known by TSC, like we have principals in secondary schools and headteachers in primary schools. If you were to have ECDE centres in a primary school and the head of the three teachers is called a principal---That is because, generally, there are only three ECDE teachers based on the staffing levels. The maximum could be four. Therefore, a set of three teachers within a primary school have a principal; another set of averagely eight teachers have a headteacher, I think we are bringing in a situation which will even be more confusing than any other time. In my view, there is a lot that this Bill needs to address. The ECDE teachers, like I have mentioned, are TSC-registered. They are qualified teachers. But the county governments look at them as unqualified. For example, in my county 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."
}