HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 229626,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/229626/?format=api",
"text_counter": 56,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute in support of what I consider a very good Speech by the President during the State Opening of Parliament yesterday. The President alluded to a number of achievements, one of them being the fact that we are now going to use ICT more in Parliament, as indicated by the introduction of the website and so on. In this area, quite a bit more requires to be done. We have spoken before about the fact that it is not enough to just say that we have internet facilities if the hon. Members are not trained and sensitised on how to use ICT. It is not enough if there are no adequate facilities in the offices of the hon. Members. I am saying this because in the last three or four years, we have been told how the hon. Members will be connected to the internet in their respective offices because they have computers that were procured in 2003. This also raises issues about the procurement of those gadgets. There are issues about the quality of the computers that were procured. Up to this point, there are some hon. Members who do not have computers and I am one of them. I run the risk of being out of Parliament without having received a computer. This is an indication again of why there are questions about what it is about procurement that I have been chasing a computer for the last three years. So, procurement issues also have got to do with our National Assembly as they have to do with other Government Ministries. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President spoke about achievements in education. We all appreciate what has been accomplished in the area of free primary school education. The challenge now is much more on how to make public schools, which comprise 90 per cent of our primary schools, compete with the so-called academies. I am saying that because, as much we are talking about millions of children in school, if we do not make it possible for them to compete at all levels - through secondary and university - I think the benefits of free primary school education will not be realised. The same applies to having affordable secondary education. Day schools are good. Expanding streams in secondary schools is very useful. But, in terms of real benefits, unless the students who go to day schools and new schools can compete for available university places, it is going to be less attractive to parents and students themselves. Secondly, it is important to emphasize the area of technical and vocational education. Majority of our young pupils will eventually get there. That is not going to happen if we keep the Ministry of Science and Technology as under-funded as it is, and expect it to support the technical and vocational institutions that are already in place, and improve the quality of education provided by those institutions. With regard to getting other sources of funding, technical institutions should be funded through the Constituencies Development Fund, which is just concentrating on secondary schools. Other technical institutions like polytechnics should be considered. There is also the issue of university places, which is a big pain for us in the Ministry of Education. We are always being asked why the pass mark is always increasing, and there is a danger for it now to be pegged at A-. We have been thinking about that issue. We are thinking of strategies to expand educational facilities. This matter will be discussed. But it will remain a problem, especially in terms of inequality. It is okay to expand opportunities and allow students who attained B- and B+ to join universities. But again, it is useful to ask the following: Even when you expand and admit students with B-, what kind of schools do they come from and what is it that they are likely to study at the universities? It does not help if you expand opportunities and all the best places will still be available to \"straight \"A\" students and we know what schools they come from. We also know who will get the other grades and go for Bachelor of Arts degrees, Bachelor of March 21, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 23 Science and so on. Unless we address the issue of quota system, there will always be disparity. If we adopt the quota system, it will be possible for children from district schools to have a chance to join university. That is what happens in some countries that have come up with affirmative action programmes. For example, in Texas, if you are top student in any school, you are guaranteed a university place. I do not know why we cannot do the same. We should consider that as Parliament because it has political implications. It should be possible for a student who attains a \"B\" from a district school to be guaranteed a university place. That is the only way they can compete with other students in good schools. Otherwise, it is going to be impossible for students from district schools to benefit from higher education institutions. These are tough political questions that touch on those who invest in private sector education. It also touches on us because it is our children who go to those top schools and eventually, to universities. I think for posterity, that is a timebomb that should be addressed. If education continues to intensify inequality between the rich and the poor, I think we are creating a time-bomb that might not affect us, but will be a problem for our own children. If your child is the only one who has a big job in a village of 1,000 kids, it will be impossible for that child to survive in that environment. So, if we do not want to invest in ourselves, at least, we need to invest in the security of our own children. We cannot do that until we ensure that the education system enables the majority of our children to compete. The issue of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation is good. But I do not know how much we can achieve bearing in mind that, at the grass roots level, their elections are hardly democratic. There were many quarrels about wives of MPs being elected in that organisation. We should address the issue of civic education to ensure that we have the best representatives. It is not enough to have people who have been hand-picked to be members of the CDF and other committees, when they may not be prepared to participate in the decision-making of those committees. So, we should enable more Kenyans to participate in the electoral process of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, election of mayors and deputy mayors. We would like to see women being involved in decision-making at that level. In terms of direct election of mayors, we should rationalise the wards, many of which were politically created at some point. We should create equal competition when it comes to direct election of mayors and their deputies. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is good that we are addressing regional imbalances. But again, we need to ask questions about areas that were historically disadvantaged. We should have more accountability. That is because the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations are putting more resources there. But we are not asking questions as to whether or not it is making a difference. We are also not asking questions about those other areas that are supposed to be developed, but there are pockets of poverty within those communities. We should address imbalances even within those regions, as opposed to just looking across. But the real issue will remain that of the social plan. You can invest in North Eastern Province and the Rift Valley. But the real problems of inequality do not have a great deal to do with regions these days. They have to do with a social plan. There are rich people in North Eastern Province. There are advantaged people in the Rift Valley. There are also advantaged people in Central Province. So, the real problem is how to address the social inequality issue across the country. That is because the majority of the people in this country, whether they come from North Eastern or Central Provinces, are poor. It is the 60 per cent that we need to be looking at, even as we talk about regional imbalances. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of corruption, it is okay to increase the number of judges. But are we going to resolve the problem if we identify judges who have been associated with corruption? If we get advocates and others that people have complained about so much, are we solving the problem by using the same people? I am suggesting that there must be a vetting system. 24 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 21, 2007 Maybe, we should have public hearings in those areas that those people are likely to be proposed to serve as judges. In that way, people will be able to say whether they are clean people or not. We always talk about poor representation of certain communities with regard to senior positions in the Government. This is an opportunity to appoint judges from every district in this country. It is a question of just coming up with a data bank and listing the judges that we have against their districts. That can also be done for other positions. In that way, as we progressively fill up positions, we will always have a data bank that will give us an indication of what areas are under- represented when it comes to positions of authority in this country. That way, we will not keep on leading delegations to the people who are in authority. Complaints have been made against Ministers who appoint their own kinsmen. Leading a delegation is only good if the people who have the authority will exercise it in a fair way. Mr. Speaker, Sir, wealth declaration is fine. But it should also be for all political aspirants. All those intending to vie for any civic, parliamentary and presidential seats must not only declare their wealth, but also show how they got their wealth and when. That, again, must be done publicly. If we have to deal with the problem of corruption, once and for all, we must not let corrupt people get in. They must not even get a chance of contesting for parliamentary or any other seat. That is because, as long as they get in with their money, you can imagine how much they will be able to corrupt the system. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}