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{
"id": 1443958,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1443958/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 33,
"legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
"slug": "margaret-kamar"
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"content": "in this time because of the contributions they made. I really felt happy that, at least, we are holding the bull by the horns as they call it. This Senate has made all of us proud by the contributions that they have made. I will not, therefore, repeat some of the things that have been said; I will just capture a few areas. I am a Member of the Standing Committee on Education. Therefore, I will touch on education and the issues that were highlighted by our youth. Before I say that, I condole with the families that lost their loved ones in the demonstrations. I pray that God gives them peace and comfort at this very difficult time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our youth questioned our taxation vis-a-vis our application of the taxes. They made us think. As I listened to the Senators, I said that it looks like it had to take the Gen Zs for us to actually think about how we apply our taxes. This was timely and it is time that we questioned ourselves on how we spend within Parliament. I will touch on the education sector as raised by the Gen Zs who have gone to school and are not employed. The challenges of going through school are still real in this country. In 2003, basic education in Kenya was supposed to be free. It was declared by Parliament that it was going to be free. Basic education in Kenya is from primary to secondary, the Form Four level. However, has it been free? We need to ask ourselves that because that was one sector that was supposed to have been taken care of by our taxes. It would have made everybody happy if our taxes were used to give everybody this human right called education, up to the highest basic level. Then people would have gone to look for training and moved on. However, this has not been the case. That is why our youth are saying that their parents have struggled and paid school fees right from primary, secondary school and up to the university, yet they have no jobs. It is time that we re-looked at that because Kenya has endorsed many agreements, both international and continental, as far as education is concerned. In fact, in 2008, free primary and day secondary education was pronounced by the then President Kibaki. However, today we know that there is a lot of payments being done. Are these legal? Can they be stopped, so that we can have fairness as far as basic education is concerned? I dare say that fairness in basic education, which is a right would enable everybody to move on with their lives when they go for skill development. However, as long as we have fees being paid, we cannot call it a human right. It will mean that only those who are able can have children proceed with education. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will never forget your speech when I was a Minister during the Kibaki administration. We had come to Kilifi to give two new universities in two days to the coastal area. You talked about this kind of discrimination yourself. You told the President that day that Pwani is now in Kenya.We were all proud and very happy. This is what some regions in Kenya are still asking about. Are we being treated equally? Education is the equalizer according to Mandela. We should all remember and ensure that if there is anything our tax must do, it must provide education for everybody. This is so that every family, whether rich or poor, can have their children progress in an equal manner. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I listened to the House and would like to support the proposal from our colleague, Senator for Kiambu, Sen. Thang’wa, on the need to ensure free is free in education. Currently, the problem, which we are all aware of is something called The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}