Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 224379,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/224379/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 294,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Mango",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 288,
        "legal_name": "Christine Mango",
        "slug": "christine-mango"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues who have contributed to this Motion. I would like to wind up by quoting the former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Mr. Koffi Annan who said: \"Educating girls is a social development policy that works. It is a long-term investment that yields unexceptionally high results.\" I, therefore, call upon the Kenyan Government and this Parliament to realise that education of girls is not a waste in any form. On the contrary, it is a very high yielding economic activity. I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Ministry of Education to set up a girl-child fund to assist vulnerable girl-children and HIV/AIDS orphans to pursue education. The Minister talked about the fund. If it exists, then, it is not well-known to most people. It should, therefore, benefit children in all constituencies so that everybody gets to know about it. I would also like to call upon the Minister to have low-cost boarding schools, especially in areas that are hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic where orphaned children can hardly learn for lack of food and other kinds of support. We also need, in the same areas, boarding schools to enable the girl-child to go through education. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need counselling in all our primary and secondary schools because the girl-child starts getting derailed very early. To arrest that, she needs all the counselling necessary to support her and to be guided to go through education. An hon. Member talked about children belonging to disabled parents who cannot pay school fees. In this country, we have tended to neglect disabled children. We have never paid attention to them and you will find very bright disabled children dropping out of school because they attend special schools whose fees is very high and poor parents cannot afford to pay for the education of those children. University education is very competitive, but only one-third of the girls join our public universities. They do not get into competitive departments like Engineering, Architecture and Medicine. The girl-child needs to be given scholarships to join such departments. Affirmative action should enable them to join these competitive departments. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Ms. Ndung'u talked about sex pests. We need to have, in place, stiffer penalties for older men in the name of \"sugar-daddies\" who move around or marry children who are underage. These people hinder the progress of the girl-child and should, therefore, be dealt with severely to stop them from interfering with the girl-child so that she can prosper. I would also like to appeal to men to change their attitude towards women and the girl-child. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I sincerely thank you for giving me this opportunity and I beg to move. April 25, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 915"
}