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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. First of all, I would like to congratulate my colleague, Prof. Mango, for bringing such a timely Motion. Hon. Ethuro was questioning why there are no women contributing to this debate. I just want to inform him that this Motion belongs to the House and not to the women hon. Members who are in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion is extremely timely in that, the problem of equity in education in this country is a very serious one. I am genetically from an arid zone of this country and it is a big surprise for people from my region, especially women, to reach my level because of many factors. We have raised the cultural issues that affect the girl-child's education progression such as, female genital mutilation and cultural biases like early marriages and the rest. However, as we fight these old cultures that affect the girl-child's education, the Government can do more to ensure that the education provided in ASAL areas is more gender-sensitive and culturally-sensitive. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, whereas the rest of the country is experiencing an increased number of enrolment in primary schools, in the arid areas, the number of girls still lags behind mainly because of the educational infrastructure provided in those regions. For example, we have been arguing here about the free primary education. We should allocate more money to ASAL areas because the quality of education in these areas is greatly hindered by the seasonal nature of the community where movement is more acute during drier spells when children are supposed to be in school. As such, if we do not invest more money in girls' boarding primary schools, the issue of universal free basic education will not make any impact at that level. A lot of girls from ASAL areas who top in their districts in national examinations go to national schools, but are unable to cope with the change in environment and sometimes, are not able to perform very well. It is my proposal that in addition to allowing girls to go to national schools, we should provide facilities in boarding primary schools, so that it is easier for girls from ASAL areas to have a smoother transition to national schools. Girls from the ASAL areas are supposed to interact with people from other communities who are already used to some facilities that they see for the first time in national schools. This gives them a better chance to adapt to, than their colleagues. Primary schools in ASAL areas need to be equipped, not only to focus on improving the quality of education, but also to improve the girls' exposure to basic facilities that I do not really need to mention. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my colleagues have also talked about the need to give bursaries to girls from those areas. We have had many reports about the school-based bursaries or constituency based bursaries experiencing some forms of corruption, in the sense that, people who want to access this money are asked by the committee members to pay some fees before they can access the funds. It is my hope that the Minister for Education, who is sitting here, is not being 906 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 25, 2007 distracted and is hearing what I am suggesting about the bursary. When I was in school, all you needed to do was to perform well and then prove that your parents could not afford to pay school fees for you and you automatically accessed the bursary. Now that the bursaries have gone to the constituency level that is outside the school environment, it means that it is only those students whose parents are aggressively pursuing their need to finish education that apply for the bursaries. It is my recommendation that a special bursary fund, earmarked for the girl-child in ASAL areas be set up, so that all the children who need that bursary can have their school fees paid for automatically, without having to apply for bursary outside the school environment. In the first place, it is the parent who is not fighting hard for this child to continue with school. So, asking the parent to pay bus fare to go to the CDF office to apply for bursary is in itself a hurdle that we would have minimised, if a special bursary fund for children in marginalised areas was based in schools as opposed to taking it outside. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other problem we have in ASAL areas is lack of role models. The school system does not provide opportunities for the girls to meet people from professions that they could then aspire to join. I visited a school in the ASAL areas and I asked the girls which careers they wanted. They were only interested in two careers because those are the only role models that they are interacting with. They said they wanted to be either nurses or teachers. I have no problem with those professions. In fact, they are noble professions, but their scope of career options is limited. The school system is not providing such opportunities formerly as extra curriculum activities so that they can interact with people from different careers. They should also get opportunity for attachment so that they can see how women in those different fields access them. On the issue of role models, we must also put affirmative action in some of the proposals we are putting forth. For example, on the issue of us increasing the number of women being elected to Parliament. We need to say that political parties should look for a method of securing safe seats for more women candidates, especially in those areas, so that the girl-child can aspire for more career options. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to illustrate this possibility through the following example. For instance, we are saying that we want to increase the number of nominated Members of Parliament to 36. If we do not have a system that will ensure that there would be, for instance, an Elmolo woman in this House, becoming a Member of Parliament will never be something that an Elmolo female child in that community's primary schools will aspire to. So, the onus is upon us to look at all amendments to the Constitution that we are bringing to provide for affirmative action, and take into account the rights of minorities within minorities, or the historically marginalised groups, so that we can have a country that holistically embraces the different members of our society. Finally, the issue of technology-based training in arid areas affects both the male and female child. So, mine would be to say that as we look into ways of developing our economy in the areas where it would, really, benefit the normal mwananchi, for example the one back in Garissa or deep in Turkana---"
}