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{
    "id": 92842,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/92842/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Laboso",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 63,
        "legal_name": "Joyce Cherono Laboso",
        "slug": "joyce-laboso"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank the Minister for giving us the outline of how the money is going to be spent this financial year. This is a very important Ministry and I am sure it touches all of us almost personally. I want to thank the Ministry for all the work that they have been doing down in our villages. We have been able to have infrastructure development as a result of the free primary education and the Kenya School Equipment Scheme (KESES). Please, continue with the programmes. There are quite a few schools which still have not been completed. We do not want to see buildings in schools which have not been completed. Mr. Minister, I would request that you re-start the programme on infrastructure development. I would also like to thank the Minister for resolving the issue of contracts for teachers. I thank you that you have finally agreed to give them contracts pending employment. From last year we have been pulling in all directions, I am glad that finally we are going to have teachers in schools by third term as you have promised. We will hold you to that. Unfortunately, we are disappointed with the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme. That is such a sensitive time of a child’s development. The fact that you have not thought that this deserves priority is quite disappointing. If we are going to mould the child from when they are young, priority should be given to making sure that we absorb the ECD teachers into our system so that they deliver in schools. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Minister for employing teachers for adult education. This is another area that is very important for those who never managed to go through the education system when they were younger. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say very clearly that, despite the very heavy investment that we are putting in the education sector, we are still unsure about the quality of education that our children are getting. We must be able to measure the returns that we are getting from the huge amounts that are invested in that sector. A research that was carried out recently has shown that there are very high levels of illiteracy among our students; I think it was carried out among pupils in Standard II up to Standard IV. What do we have to say about that, given the resources that we have invested? We must go back and assess the children when they are in schools. There are 8 million primary school students and 1.5 million secondary school students. Even as we clamor for more teachers in our schools, what do they do when they finally get to those schools? I want to call for more supervision in the school system; that everybody begins to take his or her responsibilities seriously, right from the principals, quality assurance staff and teachers. That way, we will be able to take keen interest in what is happening once we have the students in the schools. We do not want it to be only about the numbers. We want quality work to be done. I want to laud the idea that was given with regard to the centres of excellence by Dr. Mwiria. If we are going to achieve national cohesion, we must start it from the school system. If we can have 100 or so modern centres of excellence, admitting students from across the country and teaching them the values of being together, I think this is one sector that can help us bring about national cohesion. So again, before I end, I want to say that we are doing a good job, but we can do even better. There is a lot that can assist us in this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}