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{
    "id": 1098018,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1098018/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 175,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Lang’at",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13189,
        "legal_name": "Christopher Andrew Langat",
        "slug": "christopher-andrew-langat"
    },
    "content": "the structures being used by our children, employment of teachers and so on. This will be the same on the management of VTCs. You will find instructors in Bomet County being paid as little as Kshs6,000 per month, which may be different from the amount paid to those in Uasin Gishu County. I remember we visited some VTCs in your County of Uasin Gishu and they were producing marvelous and important products. I even remember one girl booked you for hairdressing but I do not know if you honoured the appointment later on. The problem is, they pay their teachers differently. Sometimes it becomes discouraging when you get a teacher in Murang’a County earning three times that of a teacher in Bomet County. This Bill will provide uniformity on training standards of the instructors, payment and matters to do with end performance of students. I am also happy for the introduction of examination and competency assessment. I will still have to go deep into this one so that we may make sure that we do not get into an examination-oriented system. You remember that transformative intellectualism is not clearly coming out in our graduates. One time when I was a lecturer at Moi University, we had a visiting engineering professor from Germany. I traveled with him from Nairobi City to Moi University and he was worried about the status of our roads. The worst came when we arrived at the University and the following day, about 1,300 engineers were graduating. He could not relate very well how we could produce many engineers and the type of intellectual exhibition that exists in our country. We should ensure this Bill concentrates on pragmatic skills developing the practical skills of our students without being too examination oriented. Finally, let me mention something that should be clear out of this Bill. I have realised most of our students do not want to join VTCs and only two things prevent them from embracing VTCs. One of them is the attitude. In the village, they are told that if they cannot make it to secondary school, they can always go to polytechnics. This makes them develop a negative attitude towards getting into VTCs. Madam Deputy Speaker, to enhance this, we need to encourage young people to join these institutions. The Government should invest a lot in building very attractive structures and employ current technology to encourage students to train there. Second is financing of these institutions, which the Government should do. I remember enrolment of students in TTIs was so poor until the Government came in to give them loans and capitation. A good example is Eldoret Polytechnic where I was a Board Member at one time. We used to have only 2,000 students but when the Government gave a capitation of Kshs30,000 and access to loans, student population went up to 18,000. For as long as the Government will not sponsor these students fully to VTCs, we shall still have a challenge when it comes to enrolment. Yesterday I was ashamed to see students from the University of Nairobi, School of Medicine striking in this century. It was because the Institution has increased school fees to the point that students cannot access some important courses in engineering and medicine. This should be high time that university education in this country is free. The Government should come up and defend important courses, which are marketable and even reduce the cost. It is not a matter of increasing the cost to the point where students are on the streets because of these expenses."
}