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{
"id": 1562802,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562802/?format=api",
"text_counter": 241,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, in response to the part (a) of the question, the Ministry implements various measures to foster equitable access to free and quality education for children in marginalized and underserved areas. These measures are underpinned under Article 53 of the Constitution, which entitles every child to free and compulsory basic education. The measures that are in place include the following: The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1562803,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562803/?format=api",
"text_counter": 242,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(a) The school Meals Programme: This is a key Government initiative designed to enhance access to and the retention of students in basic education, particularly among children in marginalised, arid and semi-arid and food insecure areas. Some areas within Makueni County benefit from this programme. The Ministry has adopted a progressive retargeting strategy to facilitate the expansion of the initiative to other undeserved areas. We are now working to integrate clean cooking solutions into the school-based interventions as part of the broader efforts to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly practises within learning institutions. (b) The Low-Cost Boarding Schools and Mobile Schools Programme: The low- cost boarding schools are a strategic intervention that targets a particular catchment of learners in environments that may inhibit school attendance, retention, completion, and transition. The intervention assists the hard-to-reach and marginalised learners in arid and semi-arid and vulnerable areas in the country. These are learners who, due to various circumstances, including retrogressive cultural practises like female genital mutilation, forced early marriages and nomadic lifestyle, are unable to attend to classes regularly and consistently. In order to ensure attendance and retention in school in view of these challenges, the Government supports their stay in low-cost boarding schools. It pays subsidies to support the non-teaching staff in the boarding wing and learners' upkeep in the schools. The schools are not expected to charge learners boarding fees. The Government grants support learners' upkeep and subsidises salaries of workers attached to boarding sections in the schools. The programme started in 2016, and for the last five years, it has been receiving an annual allocation of Kshs400 million despite the growth in enrolment. Currently, there are 486 public low-cost primary schools serving a total population of 144,845 learners. Learners who have been enroled in school are saved from retrogressive practises like child labour, cattle rustling, and early marriages. This ultimately translates into improved transition and retention rates across the levels of basic education. The schools also serve as rescue centres for some of the learners, who are kept in school and protected from the surrounding risks such as insecurity and retrogressive cultural practises. The primary challenge is the limited funding. As indicated above, the budgetary allocation has remained only Kshs400 million over the last five years, even as enrolment continues to grow. In the same vein, there is demand for expansion of the programme to other regions such as urban informal settlements, where children are vulnerable to child labour, early marriages, and insecurity. This will require an increase in the budgetary allocation. (c) Out-of-School Children Advocacy Campaigns Programme: The “Operation Come to School” is a programme that targets out-of-school children, including orphans, children with disabilities, married girls, street-involved children, and those in (Arid and Seni-Arid Lands (ASAL) and underserved areas. Key barriers to their education include, inadequate teaching staff and facilities, limited support for learners with disabilities, poor sanitation, unrecognised alternative The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1562804,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562804/?format=api",
"text_counter": 243,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
"speaker": null,
"content": "learning systems, child labour, food insecurity, gender insecurity and limited use of ICT in education. In response to question(b), the Government, through a multi-agency approach is addressing the shortage of qualified teachers and supporting infrastructure development in Makueni County and other undeserved areas across the country. As at the time of this response, the overall national teacher shortage stands at 98,461 teachers. To address this, the Commission has been undertaking the following interventions: (1) Recruitment of additional teachers. The Teacher Service Commission (TSC) annually seeks budgetary allocations to recruit teachers in response to the national staffing gaps. In the current financial year, a total of 1,429 teachers have been recruited on permanent and pensionable terms and deployed to schools across Makueni County. (2) Engagement of interns. To further mitigate the teacher shortage, the Commission has continued to engage teacher interns. In 2024/2025 financial year, 691 teacher interns have been posted to schools in Makueni. (3) Replacement to maintain teacher staffing levels. Teachers who exit the service through retirement, resignation or other reasons are replaced to maintain teachers' establishments. In Makueni County, 348 such replacements have been undertaken this year. We provided a table of additional teachers, teacher interns, and the replacements of exited teachers, who are now 2,468 in total. The strategies outlined above are consistently being applied in our undeserved regions across the country, including ASAL and remote areas. These include targeted recruitment based on staffing gaps, replacement of exited teachers, and annual deployment of the teacher interns. In response to part (c) of that question, the School Meals Programme plays a critical role in enhancing enrolment, attendance, retention, and learning outcomes, particularly in drought-affected and food-insecure counties such as Makueni. The request to expand the programme across the entire Makueni County is both valid and aligned with our national priorities in child welfare, education, access, and food security. Parts of Makueni County are among the areas benefiting from the programme, with selected schools already covered. It is imperative to note that the expansion of the programme requires additional resources."
},
{
"id": 1562805,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562805/?format=api",
"text_counter": 244,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Deputy Speaker (Sen. Kathuri) left the Chair]"
},
{
"id": 1562806,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562806/?format=api",
"text_counter": 245,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Veronica Maina) in the Chair]"
},
{
"id": 1562807,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562807/?format=api",
"text_counter": 246,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Currently, we face fiscal constraints that have limited our ability to expand the programme. However, we are actively engaging the National Treasury and development partners to mobilise additional funding that will help us expand into other areas that require intervention."
},
{
"id": 1562808,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562808/?format=api",
"text_counter": 247,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I submit."
},
{
"id": 1562809,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562809/?format=api",
"text_counter": 248,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, hon. Cabinet Secretary. We will now move to the next questions. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1562810,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562810/?format=api",
"text_counter": 249,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mumma",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I would like to ask a supplementary question before we proceed."
},
{
"id": 1562811,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562811/?format=api",
"text_counter": 250,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " You had not asked your supplementary questions?"
}
]
}