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"id": 236259,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Wekesa",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 209,
"legal_name": "Noah Mahalang'ang'a Wekesa",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many of the students comprising the 90 per cent also get into parallel degree programmes at our public universities. This means that, the quest for knowledge amongst our people is getting greater. It is in this regard that we, as a Ministry and a Government, are making it possible for Kenyans to come forward and start universities. If you remember, it is only this year that we had to give a charter to Kenya Methodist University. Therefore, the more universities we get, the more chances we create for our youth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will also agree with me that, as we try to address the issues of the Millennium Development Goals, education for all will remain a very crucial issue. We will do every thing we can to make sure that we provide education to our students. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have already referred to the fact that every year we have an increase in students from secondary schools wanting to join universities. In 1995, we had 140,000 students from secondary schools. This year, the figure is close to 270,000. So, you can see the increase in the number of students that have to look for places in our public universities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have made proposals to deal with the issue of access to education. It is in order for me to share with my colleagues that the following proposals have been put forward as strategies to deal with the issue of access to education. First, we need to expand the existing public universities to be in tandem with the increasing population and, therefore, the increasing numbers of students, as I have already said. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, in our public universities, we need to de- link the availability of accommodation from the issue of admissions. We should encourage students to look for accommodation outside universities. It is expensive to construct halls of residence. Indeed, if you look around the world, you will find that many university students do not depend on staying in halls of residence. Once we control the number of students in universities, because only a certain number can be accommodated in the halls of residence, we will be inflicting a big blow to those who want to join universities. Therefore, in towns like Nairobi, we should encourage our students to get accommodation outside the universities, so that we can have many students joining the University of Nairobi and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. This will enable our universities to deal with the ever-increasing number of students who want to join universities only to find that we have linked bed space to their admission. We also need to establish a mechanism to ensure that there is credit transfer to cater for post-secondary entrance into public universities and close movement of students from one university to another. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is in the light of the above scenario that a Bill to upgrade one of the university's constituent colleges to a full-fledged university is being presented here today. It is envisaged that the upgrading of this university will go a long way in enabling us to admit more students to our universities and the magical figure of 10,000 students will be increased. With improved infrastructure and capacity, the Western University of Science and Technology will be admitting more students and this will solve some of the problems that we are facing today. You are aware that this college was started on 5th December, 2002, as a constituent college of Moi University. It is very positive for universities to establish institutions that can offer various faculties outside the parameters of the campuses. People are talking about facilities in western Kenya that can be converted into constituent colleges of this university should we pass this Bill. I want to underscore the fact that the establishment of this university will open up space for students in Kenya in general, but in particular, in western Kenya, where, indeed, we are still very short of university institutions. November 7, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3431 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this college was started in 1972 as the Western College of Science and Technology (WECO). We must recognise the leaders who sustained WECO up to the time of the establishment of the Western University of Science and Technology. Without these leaders, who had a vision, maybe I would not be standing here to talk about upgrading the college to a public university. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to commend the leaders in western Kenya who had a dream and a vision about the establishment of WECO as it was called at the time. The mandate of the university will be the usual mandate that we attach to all the universities that have been established. The Western University of Science and Technology will provide, directly and in collaboration with other institutions of higher learning, facilities for university education. This will, of course, include the technological, scientific and professional education. Secondly, the university will participate in discovery, transmission and enhancement of knowledge. It will empower Kenyans with knowledge, so that they can be players in today's global world where science and technology is the engine of growth of any nation. That includes our country. Obviously, the university will conduct examinations for academic awards as may be provided by the statutes pertaining to the university. Finally, the university will examine and make proposals for new faculties, departments, resource and research centres for scientific innovations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in order for a university to be established in this manner, we have a Commission for Higher Education, that is manned by very able Kenyans. Part of the Commission's mandate is to make sure that, as we establish universities, we are also addressing the issue of quality education. We do not want to reach a stage where we are establishing universities for the sake of granting degrees to Kenyans. As we do that, we want to make sure that the education that Kenyans are getting in our public universities is of high quality and Kenyans who have qualified in our public universities in whatever---"
}