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{
    "id": 1476565,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1476565/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nairobi City County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Esther Passaris",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "As we speak today, many children including Form-Fours are out of school because they are unable to pay their school fees. Yesterday, I dealt with a case in my county, where a Form- Four student was sent home because her parents owe the school Ksh130,000 in school fees. This parent is a mama fua . She cannot afford to pay the money owed. The school felt that even though it is two months to the examinations, it should send the student home in order to put pressure on the mother. You cannot get water out of a stone. There is no way that mama fua can raise that money. She further told me that she is not staying in her own house. It was locked because she could not afford to pay rent and neither is she getting enough jobs. The Constitution establishes education as a fundamental right for individuals’ development and the nation's future. I want to paint a picture of what is happening to this child. The mother received Ksh5,000 bursary from the Member for Lang’ata, Hon. Jalang’o. Since she has brought this matter to my awareness, she will receive Ksh53,000. The student will be put on full scholarship which we give to very few students. The NGAAF gives Ksh1.9 million per constituency, per year. Members of Parliament can spend anything between Ksh50 and Ksh70 million. The problem we are facing right now, is that our bursaries cannot ensure that all the students in our respective wards, constituencies and counties get compulsory education that is within their right in the Constitution. Therefore, we are not living to the mandate of the Constitution. If we eliminate corruption, we will ensure that Vision 2030 is attained. All students in Kenya will get basic education from Early Childhood Development (ECD), Primary School, Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School. The HELB will come in later. If we fail to do this, we will end up failing this country. Too many young children are loitering in various estates because they do not go to school. Some of them are jailed because they end up committing crimes. We are failing the citizens of this country by not offering free and compulsory basic education. Some students make it and end up going to university where HELB comes in. After we finish with free and compulsory basic education, we should look at how we will handle Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) since not all students go university. Let us take one step at a time. We need to start this movement as Members of Parliament and leaders with various funds, by agreeing that we need to push the Ministry of Education, oversee it and provide a budget so that it can provide free secondary Education. I do not mean that we only provide school fees. Currently, we all know that high school is free. It is only in boarding schools where parents pay between Ksh40,000 and Ksh79,000. By free, I mean we should provide uniforms, books, teachers and money for various activities. Recently, I visited a primary school and the student I took there, had not reported because they did not have school uniform. I bought the school uniform only to find that the students had gone on a geography learning trip. That student and many others whose parents could not afford Ksh2,000 did not go for the trip. I recall, in my childhood days I used to go on school trips, and there was no segregation nor discrimination. Whether you had money or not, the school organised the trip for you. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}