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{
    "id": 772052,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/772052/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 457,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "because he understands education very well. I also appreciate the experiences that Prof. Ongeri has shared on the Floor of the House. I also have a wide experience in this area, having been a tutor in Kagumo Teachers College and Kericho Teachers College before I went to Moi University. Whenever we went to supervise teaching practice, we saw what the Members have expressed as the reality. There are various types of disparities like gender disparity. At one time I visited a school in a municipal area to inspect a teacher. There were 12 female teachers and no male teacher. What does that portray to leaners who want male teachers as role models? There are also schools with no female teachers. This disparity affects learning and social growth. Disparity in the distribution of teachers is a real thing. As Sen. Wetangula said, it does not necessarily have to do with shortage of teachers. There must be a compromise on policy or some policies may have been overtaken by events. This takes us further to re-examine the policies that are existent. These disparities affect one another. When we talk about teacher distribution gender disparity, we should also talk about infrastructural disparities. Teachers, and Sen. Milgo knows this, are always posted to schools based on the number of streams and classrooms. Teachers are not posted on the basis of the how many pupils are in that school; it is on the basis of the number of classrooms. So, infrastructural challenges also affect this distribution. Unless we address this situation as a matter of urgency, it will be worse come next year, after the introduction of the free day secondary education. This is because 100 per cent transition from primary school to secondary school is anticipated. Many secondary schools have got only one TSC teacher, that is, the head teacher. Therefore, we must address this issue immediately, so that next year does not find us in a mess. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, another thing that we must re-examine is to find the root cause of all this. Some are historical while some places were favoured for a long time. They have got so many teachers and are wondering what we are talking about. So, we must also establish the root causes of these disparities so that we get effective solutions to the same. I also support Sen. Poghisio when he said that legislation must be put in place to make sure that these disparities are checked and there is implementation to avoid the same problems in future. We also need to re-examine the current policies in the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) – guiding teacher distribution within the Ministry of Education. There is also another issue that needs to be addressed. Today, if you examine very well, there is a lot of duplication within the Ministry of Education per se and the TSC when it comes to teacher management. This should also be harmonized to enable both institutions to work effectively. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, therefore, I would like to support this Motion with amendments so as to capture private and public schools. In addition, I am also supporting with an amendment that we establish a committee of the Senate that will deal with this particular matter. Otherwise, giving it to the Ministry of Education as Sen. Poghisio has said, they have this information and they know very well that they are in a way compromised. So, it should be us to do this particular audit and come up with The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}