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{
    "id": 1334111,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1334111/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 24,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugunja, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Opiyo Wandayi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " I have listened keenly to the Petition. It raises very grave issues. Let me thank KeSSHA. KeSSHA is an established association of head teachers of secondary schools. They have been very instrumental in the management of our schools across the country. I am saying the Petition is raising grave issues because the Government must have done some costing for it to have arrived at the figures you have just referred to from 2008. It is true, even as we speak, even though schools are now closed, several schools are struggling to make ends meet. On the other hand, head teachers are not allowed to charge extra fees. Additionally, the Government has consistently failed to remit the capitation money. How, then, do you expect those heads to run their schools? That is the question that needs to be answered. How does the Government expect secondary schools to run without money if the head teachers cannot charge extra fees and yet, the money that is supposed to come from the National Treasury is not coming? How, then, do you want our secondary schools to be run? This issue calls for serious introspection not only on the part of the Government but, indeed, on the part of the citizenry. This House has a duty to address this matter with finality. It must address this matter with finality. Leave alone even the issue of the arrears. The figures you are talking about are monumental in tens of billions of shillings. I can see the Chairman of the Committee on Education, my friend Hon. Melly, looking at me. He is my neighbour in Kisumu. Unless you want us to continue burying our heads in the sand, we must either say that the Government is unable to support secondary education by way of capitation or allow the head teachers to charge extra fees with clarifications. In a nutshell, this Petition is timely and needs to be processed expeditiously. In addition to the Committee on Education headed by my friend Hon. Melly, we may also need to incorporate more people so that we can deal with this issue holistically. Thank you."
}