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SENATE HANSARD 31 JANUARY 2023 VOL 32 NO 12
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 31st January, 2023
The Senate met at Half –past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that Order of the Day, Number 1 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 1st February, 2023.
MOTION
CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE AND RECRUITMENT OF ECD TEACHERS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on challenges affecting early childhood learning.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity. I want to say compliments of the new season.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, you are not connected.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you. I want to add a few words to the motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Mabika. Mr. President Sir, the Hon. Senator moved a pertinent motion, especially taking note that it is important for mothers because our children sometimes are institutionalised in safe places and they come from preschool with a bit of knowledge of good and bad, what should be done and what should not be done. Let me also say that, Mr. President, this is elementary education. This is where they start to be groomed to know who this is and their significance in their lives. So, I thought that Government should intervene in the zero grade issue. Government should intervene because we are building our children. We are grooming them to grow up to be responsible leaders. I also believe that it is a good thing because our children will be safe in institutions like ECD centres. There is a bad spirit which is circulating. You find small children disappearing, just going inside the house, may be the mother is sweeping, only to find that the child has disappeared. This is not right; this is a bad spirit which is circulating.
A pre-school is a safe haven for children. As a parent, I can do my household chores freely knowing that at a particular time I will collect my child from ECD and bring the child home. It is our plea that as a nation, we need Government to intervene. Government should intervene because this is tomorrow’s leadership. We are growing old and we would not be here for good for the younger generation is coming up. We need to protect them so that we have children who excel in education but they have to come from the zero grade. When they go for grade one, they will be knowledgeable. Going to Form Four, you know that from elementary education this child has the potential and they will succeed or not in their education.
The other issue that I want to raise – we are talking about a very good initiative but the kind of life that we are living is hard. The places where our children are going for ECDs are not healthy. We need to request that Government intervenes because you find that in some ECD centres, there are no toilets and no water. So, it is my plea that Government should intervene so that things would move forward properly. It is important for children to be in a healthy environment. Some take their children to such centres because they would want to do their household chores with no disturbance but some of these places are not good for the children. I just wanted to raise these few words so that Government intervenes. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to say a few words on the motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Mabika, which is quite important to us as a nation and as parents. This issue existed in the past. Our children used to go and do role playing and back then there was no ECD. They could play and you could identify the potential and different talents that were invested upon children.
With the advent of technology and development, ECDs were introduced. ECD is just like a house which is being built because when you build a house without a strong foundation, when rains and storms come, that house will fall. That house will not survive strong winds. So, this is the same with the motion that was moved that as a nation, we need to put our efforts in creating a conducive environment for ECDs so that our children are brought up and grounded in elementary education so that when they grow up, they grow and graduate to primary and secondary education.
In the past when going for grade one, a child was left crying at school because the child would want to remain there. They knew that they would just be staying at home, hence it was difficult to adjust to a new environment in school, meeting new people. So, the children would cry but ECD now is creating an environment where children cry at the first instance but when they see their peers of the same age, then they get used to that environment. As they get used to that environment, they become confident and understand the importance of education.
My request then is that the Ministry of Health and Child Care should ensure that every school with ECD is inspected by health officials to ascertain the suitability of the health situation at the school. They need to check whether there is proper food, ablution facilities, clean water and sanitation, whether it is in the rural areas or in towns. If it is in the rural areas, they need to check whether they are using borehole water for the children to get clean water. The health aspect of our children is important.
The other point is that there are some ECD schools which charge monies that are exorbitant and beyond the parents’ capabilities. This results in parents paying higher fees for ECD than Grade Ones. This is the reason why some children drop out of school and some are not going to ECD because the fees are very expensive.
My request is that there should be a law which regulates the fees structures of ECDs so that there are similar fee structures which can be afforded by parents. This eliminates some children from the elementary education stage as their parents are not able to pay the fees which will be required. If the child is monitored at an early stage, it is easy to discover their talent. This is the foundation of leadership. As they go to Grade One up to A’ Level, these talents will be nurtured. That is why in the past you would discover that such children were given bursaries and those who were talented were nurtured. They could not drop out of school because their parents could not afford but there were bursaries to cover such students.
Mr. President, this is a very important motion as a nation because these children are nurtured and their skills are developed. You would find that we would have medical doctors, pilots and specialists in different areas because their abilities will be identified at a tender age at ECD. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Mabika for moving such an important motion and bring it to this august Senate so that we develop our children for posterity. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion which was moved by Hon. Sen. Mabika. I would like to thank God for taking care of us over the holidays. Firstly, these infants are important people and I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mabika for moving this motion.
The development of every child begins at an early stage. It was very difficult long back to see the development of the child but nowadays we see the development of the child at an early stage. That is why there is a saying that a child is taught well at an infant stage. Some other kids are bullies and when they get to school they will not respect their teachers. They want to fight with their teachers sometimes. If a child enrolls at an early stage, they will see the importance of the teacher. It is very important that there should be early child education. Parents should see it important and they have to send their children to school. The child who enrolls at Grade One stage will not be able to catch up with those who started at an early stage. Nowadays we see that the children at ECD are able to speak in English and mingle well with other children without bullying each other. Sometimes we find that children who enroll for Grade One will not be able to respect each other because they would not have done ECD. At times teachers would ask parents to assist in teaching the children at home.
In rural areas, some children learn in open spaces but it is very important for the children to learn in classrooms. They will be comfortable when they are seated on chairs and have desks. This will enable them to have endurance to continue learning. If they are seated on the ground they will not have that endurance. Children should have the necessary material in classrooms. Many schools in rural areas do not have sufficient material for children to use. It is very important for the parents to take their children to ECD so that they develop well. Some parents do not see the importance of taking their children to ECD and they only do so because there is no-one to look after the child at home.
We should thank the teachers who teach children at ECD and respect the teachers who teach our children in schools. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should provide adequate infrastructure to unfinished schools. They should also take note of illiterate parents in rural areas and consider enrolling them.
When considering the budget, we urge the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to allocate more funds to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Teachers’ residences, in rural areas are dilapidated. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should consider increased funding to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education so that rural schools can build more classrooms; and teachers can have cottages.
Mr. President, I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mabika for tabling this very important motion. Integrated Early Childhood Development Programmes (ECDs) are very important. Many people can now see that ECDs are very important; parents verify the importance of ECDs as children grow armed with positive development. The future of the child will be set at a young age and few fail their Grade 7 examinations. Once again, thank you Mr. President, for giving me the opportunity to add a few words to this very important motion.
HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 1st February, 2023.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA, the Senate adjourned at Nine Minutes past Three o’clock p.m.