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{
    "id": 950978,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/950978/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 375,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Vihiga CWR, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Beatrice Adagala",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13280,
        "legal_name": "Beatrice Kahai Adagala",
        "slug": "beatrice-kahai-adagala-2"
    },
    "content": "In several of our constituencies, ECD centres are in deplorable situations. From the look of things, since county governments are in-charge, the centres lack facilities. You will find children seated on a dusty floor, with no proper care and nothing to eat. If I can remember in the olden days of President Moi, there was milk for the children. Most ECD centres in the country do not met the required standards. Therefore, if this law is put in place, at least, standards will be set. Some ECD centres are up to date while others are not. So, standards should be set, so that all ECD centres are at par. The children will be provided with comfortable seats, tables and toys to play with. The children should not be bombarded with too much learning without enough space and time to play because of lack of playgrounds. We will be bringing up children who are more of robots and are unable to understand their surroundings. Once subjected to this kind of torture, they may not be interested in furthering their studies. I support this Bill. It has come at the right time. I have seen my colleagues complaining that county governments are putting up ECD centres using a lot of funds like Kshs2 million. This is daylight robbery because Members of Parliament construct classes using less money from the NG-CDF. How can county governments purport to use millions of shillings? This is simple financial mismanagement. The common person’s children are the ones who suffer because they are unable to take their children to nice and well equipped ECD centres. Therefore, the Government should provide a law of creating conducive ECD centres, so that all children can love going to school. Another issue is that ECD teachers are having it rough. Most of them are paid peanuts and others are not paid at all. You find a class with between 20 to 40 children having only one teacher from morning to around noon. This is not good because the children get bored. You know a child’s concentration level is very low. So, once a child feels bored by the teacher, they will not understand anything. Therefore, there should be rules to govern the ECD centres. For remuneration maybe, the TSC should take over the running of ECD teachers because some have degrees in early childhood education. So, they must be taken care of and not left at the hands of governors who employ and pay them very little money. If this Bill becomes law, our children will enjoy going to school. They should not be overloaded. As early as 6.00 a.m. in the morning, you see small children with huge bags on their backs and this is terrible medically. Dr. Nyikal can confirm that it is unhealthy for a child of three or four years to carry a huge bag on the back because it brings health issues. We need a conducive environment for the children to learn. I support the Bill."
}