Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1266625,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1266625/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kinangop, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kwenya Thuku",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13380,
        "legal_name": "Zachary Kwenya Thuku",
        "slug": "zachary-kwenya-thuku"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Indeed, after a long wait, I finally have an opportunity to add my voice to this important Motion on consideration of the draft charter for the Open University of Kenya. From the outset, education is a right of every Kenyan. It is enshrined in Article 43(f) of the Constitution of Kenya that we promulgated in 2010. Article 53(1)(b) of the Constitution states clearly that every child has a right to free and compulsory basic education. I want to thank the efforts of the Ministry of Education, especially the Department of Higher Education in proposing to establish an opportunity or a platform where every Kenyan can access university education. Without this platform, the people who are limited will not access our university education which is quite expensive. We are more than 30 years late in establishing such a platform. Our neighbours in East Africa, Tanzania established their open university in 1992 through an Act of Parliament. The same was operationalised in 1992. That is to say that we are many years late. It is time we took the initiative to approve the award of charter for the Open University of Kenya. We will reap bountifully if we establish this university. A child living in Kinangop who is a son or a daughter of a peasant farmer will have an opportunity to access this education, especially through the digital hubs that have been proposed by this Government. I am praying that this Government will actualise the digital hubs in every ward so that every person who will be interested with university education will have access to this platform. The Government must work on connectivity. It should take network to places where there is no network. I want to affirm what the Leader of the Majority Party alluded to that, indeed, fiber optic is being laid across the country. This kind of learning is not new to Kenyans because of the revolutionary kind of learning that was brought about during the COVID-19 pandemic when students were required to learn online. We have lessons that we have taken from online education where students have been learning virtually. Those of us who are scholarly have benefited from virtual learning. We have also seen the shortcomings of online learning. There are many ramifications that we need to address even as we approve the award of charter for the Open University of Kenya. On study materials that a student is supposed to download, if the Government will not avail network, it will be very expensive in terms of buying data or what we call bundles. The reliability of networks is critical. We know of fluctuation of networks. There is also the issue of absence because some of the learners are very young and cannot maintain discipline in terms of making sure that they are in class when they are supposed to be there. In essence, this is a great idea that is coming in late. It should have been implemented many years ago. However, with the advancement of technology, I believe it is an idea that everybody should support. On the issue of courses that are going to be offered, there will be limitations in the sense that the Open University can only offer social sciences and arts courses. Courses in sciences cannot be offered in open university. Thank you."
}