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"id": 209856,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/209856/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us also not forget the fact that the private primary school education is very much advantaged, in terms of the resources that are available to a lot of individuals who comprise that small percentage of those who are privileged in this country, that send their children to those schools. We can, therefore, ask some of them to also supplement the public sector where the majority of the other children are going. It is also in their interest to ensure that if they can pay so much for their own children in private academies and institutions, they can contribute a little bit to ensuring that the 60 per cent that are not so lucky also benefit from that wealth. It is in their interest that there is a community where inequality is not so big. This is because the bigger the inequality, the bigger the gap becomes and the more insecure it is going to be for those people and their own children. So, it is also in their interest to invest in public education for the majority of Kenyans, so that they will feel secure in that environment. That support can come, not only in terms of that levy to support good schools and expansion of secondary schools and streams where there is already one stream, but also in terms of scholarship support, bursary support, resources for research capacity for our universities and research institutes, supporting certain professors like they do in Western universities. The chairs or professors are paid for by certain companies. They can also support in terms of putting in money to give opportunities for internships for people who are in training institutions both middle-level and universities, so that they benefit from training that is indirectly paid for by the private sector. There are many other ways that the private sector can put in to support education in both direct and indirect ways. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is also much more we can do. I mean we have been talking, in the last few years, of more than Kshs80 billion that is the subject of corrupt deals that is lying somewhere in overseas banks. Let us also begin by recouping this money to support education because if there is a way of getting this money from those that have benefited from corruption in one way or the other, and invest it in our schools, then we will go a long way in having good institutions. We will also ensure that even as the economy grows, we will take care of the short-term problems that we are experiencing now because there is money that is out there that some people own, which they do not deserve. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to reclaim public land that was taken over by individuals. That is another way of getting a great deal of resources, to not only support the expansion of secondary education, but also to subsidise what the Government is paying. But I think 3028 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 8, 2007 as we tax companies, as leaders of our respective communities, we should lead by example and be the first ones to contribute towards that education levy. So, I would also like to call upon hon. Members of Parliament to be the first ones to lead by example and say that they will contribute up to a certain percentage of our salaries to support education in our respective constituencies as away of supplementing the resources that would come from companies because it is not only companies that are doing well. If we do that, we would be more convincing to the wider public, companies and others to want to invest in that because it would be clear that the people who ensured that this legislation goes through, are actually living by example by putting in some resources to support education of the poor. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you were contributing, you said that we need to- --"
}