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{
    "id": 700290,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/700290/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 538,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. This is a very important Bill. It has attracted contribution from many Members. I think I am the 24th Member contributing now. Going by an average of 10 minutes per Member, that adds up to exactly four hours. I think by the end of this debate, we will have done great justice to this Bill. Let me raise some concerns that the Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology needs to consider as we move to the Third Reading of the Bill. Education centre has been defined as a public or a private early childhood education facility. It is not for any other purpose. That brings out other issues. Still on the issue of definition, the principal has been defined as the lead educator or administrator in an early childhood education training centre. This is my concern. You call that person heading three classes a principal. We must understand that in ECDE, you start from baby class, move to nursery, then pre-unit. Those are three classes yet you call the head of those levels a principal. Most of ECDE centres are within primary schools. The head of the primary school is called a head teacher yet you are calling somebody at a lower level a principal. There is need to look at that because it may bring some conflict in terms of seniority. When you go to a secondary school, you have a principal. In the new Education Act, we removed what we used to call prefects in secondary schools. They are now called the student council. The chairperson of the council is called the president. I understand that, that is bringing conflict already because a student is called a president and yet the head of the school is called a principal. Right now, I am aware that principals of secondary schools have written to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology seeking to correct that anomaly. Those are issues that need to be looked into. The purpose of this Bill, in Clause 3, among other things, is to provide a framework for establishment of necessary infrastructure for learning in these institutions. It is good to inform county governments that there are supposed to be three classes for ECDE. They should build three convenient classrooms instead of one. I heard Members say here yesterday that county governments have built one class only and yet the requirement is that they build three classes in order to make an ECDE centre complete. It is part of the infrastructure. Clause 2 of the Bill defines a “teacher” as a person registered as a teacher by the TSC. The ECDE teachers are not registered by the TSC. There was a court case on that at some point. The Bill needs to be clear on that issue. 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."
}