Education unit soon for arid lands

A special outfit to handle education in marginalised areas is in the pipeline.

And the Ministry of Education is fine-tuning the policy paper seeking to establish Nomadic Areas Education Commission.

Addressing Parliament moments before MPs passed the Sh117 billion 2008/2009 Budget for his docket, Education minister Sam Ongeri said he was aware of challenges facing learners and teachers in the arid areas, “and all must be done to erase inequalities”.

Second day

It was the second day of debate on the vote for the ministry, and MPs who spoke piled praises on the minister and his team.

Rarely do we have ministers and their assistants sitting for the whole period of debate on their dockets.

But Prof Ongeri and his two assistants, Prof Ayiecho Olweny and Mr Calisto Mwatela were present and could be seen studiously taking copious notes from members’ speeches.

Top officials from the ministry, led by permanent secretary Karega Mutahi were also in the House, taking notes.

The minister celebrated them, saying: “We have a dedicated group at the ministry. My PS and directors of sectoral institutions are also here.”

And when Prof Ongeri stood on Wednesday evening to address their concerns, he did it with the exactness of a committed public servant.

Armed with notes replete with sub-titles, the minister delved into all issues MPs had raised. He was to reap dividends when members went into the committee stage and – in a record ten minutes – endorsed the ministry’s budget.

Prof Ongeri rooted for the performance contracting for teachers, arguing that it was the only way to gauge performance.

Asked teachers

He asked teachers to be patient over more pay, explaining that negotiations were on between his office, the Teachers Service Commission and the Public Service Commission.
“They (negotiators) have held six meetings,” he said.

He allayed fears raised earlier that the school feeding programme had jolted to a halt. The Government had pumped Sh400 million into the kitty, with an additional Sh150 million from Japan.

Food would be bought locally.

The minister agreed MPs that the “craze” where universities took over teachers training colleges as constituent campuses could prove ruinous.

Parliament reports by Owino Opondo, Odhiambo Orlale and Caroline Wafula