“We will also integrate the madrassa system in predominantly Muslim areas into the formal education.”
This will be the first time Early Childhood Development Education will be officially put under the management of the Government.
Consensus on the Education Bill was reached at a two-day meeting organised by the two education ministries and chaired by Parliamentary Education Committee chairman and Mosop MP David Koech.
Other draft laws the MPs agreed to pass are the Kenya National Examination Council Bill, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Bill, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Bill, the Kenya Qualifications Framework, Science Technology and Innovations Bill, and various sector Sessional Papers.
Prof Godia says that with the incorporation of pre-primary and Islamic religious education schools into the formal system, all nursery attending children will benefit from subsidies.
“It will be the Government’s duty to pay fees for these children,” he said. “And for any Government to fail in this, it will have to prove to a court of law or a tribunal that it is unable to cater for the children.” Godia said all children would also be entitled to food and nutrition as part of strategies to enhancing access, equity, quality and relevance.
Students will have a right to be informed of their educational progress regularly. This means that learners will have legal backing against any teacher if they are not adequately briefed on his education progress.
Learners will be given appropriate incentives to complete basic education. None of them will be forced to repeat any class or expelled from school. The changes address a spate of suicides in recent years linked to exam results and requests to students to repeat classes.
“No pupil shall be subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in any manner, whether physical or psychological,” reads the Bill.
“A person who contravenes these provisions commits an offence and shall be liable to disciplinary action under the Act, or any other written law.”
Employing a child of compulsory school-going age will also be a criminal offence and any contravention to the provision will attract a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both.
Learners’ rights
