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{
    "id": 1562665,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562665/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 104,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Julius Migos Ogamba",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "On right-sizing, this is the rationalisation of the staff and let me explain it further. What we found is that in universities, the ratio of teaching staff to non-teaching staff is supposed to be 70:30, but what we have in most of our institutions is the opposite. We have academic staff that are 30:70. So, right-sizing or rationalisation is as you continue employing, you see where you need to employ and where you need to release. For example, if a casual or somebody is on contract and you find he is in the 70 per cent portion, you do not replace that person. You let them go at the end of their contract so that you have an opportunity to bring this other side above, not at right size. There will be issues relating to sending people home, but that is dependent on a programme that would work if that becomes necessary, just like what we have done in Moi University. At Moi University, we agreed that the first thing that will happen is the people whose contracts are coming to an end and are not required to be renewed because they are in the category of where you have more than you need. When you want to deal with the rest of the group, for example, you want to send them home, you have to work using the normal process because it is a labour right. We discuss with them and with the unions. You must have funds if you are sending people home to pay them. These are the strategies or structures that we put in place. One is to ensure that we have sustainable programmes in the universities and we do not offend the rights of the employees. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we will not just sack people and tell them to go home. We will work with them and their unions to ensure that we have a transition programme to ensure we get the right level. That is the right-sizing rationalization that we are talking about. We will work together with them. We will not wake up and say, this group, go home. There could even be those who are willing to voluntarily go home and get their sendoff payment packages. On the issue of transforming these middle-level colleges into universities came about because there was a large number of students who wanted to pursue degree courses. Where students were supposed to go to universities we would start from the position of how many spaces we had in the universities for us to admit. We the did a cut- off point and say, for example, that year we were taking students from Grade B and above. Even the people who are qualified to go to universities were not getting the spaces. That is the basis upon which the transformation of these middle colleges to universities came about. Where we are now, the conversation needs to confirm whether we have enough spaces. For instance, this year, the spaces we have in universities to accommodate students are 305,000. The people qualified on the C-Plus to go to universities are 246,000. That means we have almost 60,000 available space to admit other students. So, the question would be, do we really need to do or create more universities since we are not getting enough students to admit? So, it is a conversation that we will have. At each and every discussion, this is the rationalization, discussion, the assessment that needs to be done, including the financial implications of it to see whether it is possible to upgrade. 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."
}