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{
    "id": 862210,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/862210/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13188,
        "legal_name": "Getrude Musuruve Inimah",
        "slug": "getrude-musuruve-inimah"
    },
    "content": "This is a good Bill for it is also speaking on the issue of disability. Sen. Wetangula has mentioned that the issue of disability is an issue that is important. He has mentioned that he has significant others who have disabilities. I am happy because this Bill is speaking on issues of disability and children with disabilities. However, I want to bring it to the Floor of this House that there is need for the Senate, through the Committee on Education, to interrogate this issue. The Committee should go to the ground and see what is happening there regarding the children with disability who are in ECD schools. As we speak, there are some issues in the curriculum and the syllabus that are not clear on children with disabilities. There is need for the Senate Committee on Education to interrogate and ensure that we have a proper curriculum for children with disabilities because they are always forgotten. Recently, when the results were announced, the media talked of how the children had performed well and the whole nation was happy but nothing in the media spoke of the performance of children with disabilities. I want this Senate to know that the performance of children with disabilities was dismal. Something needs to be done in this country so as to help them right from early childhood, in order for them to get the right papers so as to transit to proper secondary schools and the working world. I decided to interrogate and see how the children with disabilities performed in the just concluded Class Eight examinations. It was painful to find out that the highest child in special schools did not have more than 270 marks, especially those in the schools for the deaf. As we talk about the ECD schools and early childhood, can we interrogate the system so as to see where we have gone wrong as Kenyans and when we interrogate, we do so because we are well meaning. We want to ensure that we leave a legacy as a Senate such that we can later say that, this was the situation on issues of disability in ECD, there was a mismatch or the curriculum was not there or it had not been developed but as Senate, we pressed on and worked with the right stakeholders and ensured that there was a curriculum. As I speak right now, we have the competency-based curriculum but the ECD children with disability have been neglected to date. There is no direction for teachers. They do not know how to approach teaching ECD and there is no direction for the children, hence the competency-based curriculum is competency based for the regular children. There is a gap that needs to be addressed. I support this Bill but it should be inclusive so as to ensure that our children get the education that will eventually help them at an early age and it should be the same for children with disability. When that is done, we will avoid having a few people with disabilities dotting the colleges and universities. There should be a reasonable number of children with disabilities at college and university level and that can only happen when it starts right from early childhood. Thank you, for giving me this opportunity. I support this Bill and I insist that it should interrogate further on issues of disability."
}