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{
    "id": 236262,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/236262/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Wekesa",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Science and Technology",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 209,
        "legal_name": "Noah Mahalang'ang'a Wekesa",
        "slug": "noah-wekesa"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we want to make sure that Kenyans who have qualified in our public universities in whatever profession can work anywhere in the world, be they doctors, teachers or electrical engineers. The knowledge that we impart to our students should be of the highest quality. Therefore, I want to stress the point that we should not just establish institutions of higher education, but we must also guard against the provision of second-rate education in those institutions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this regard, I would like to urge the Commission for Higher Education to make sure that the institutions that operate under it are of high quality and that their manpower is composed of the right people. In so doing, we will be in tandem with exactly what we are doing at the primary and secondary schools levels where the quality of our education should be of the highest quality. We should extend that to the university level and at the same time make sure that they operate under the right environment and the right acreage. We are endowed with good land and climate and we should make sure that universities are established in an environment which is conducive for students to learn without any interruption. Of course the Western University of Science and Technology (WUST) fits in this Bill. To be able to take in many students, we need proper infrastructure. WUST, since the year 2002, has made great efforts in establishing good infrastructure. It has a good catering complex, 3432 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 7, 2006 many lecture rooms and hostels which have been put up, which is the environment that we want. The university will be run by a council which is already in place. We inaugurated the council three months ago and it is led by a Chairman who has very able members; Kenyans who have a lot of knowledge in education matters. Along with that, there is an academic board which is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. The academic programmes have been approved by the Moi University Senate which has been administering the board members. I want to point out that WUST will have a niche of its own because there are many innovative subjects being taught there. One is about disaster management. Students will be able to acquire knowledge on conflict resolution, mechanisms and methods of disaster preparedness, sustainable development and humanitarian assistance. As you are aware, Kenya is a recipient of refugees from all places. We are currently receiving refugees from our neighbouring countries, particularly Somalia. Kakuma Camp was mainly established as a centre for refugees. Kenya is playing a major role in that social aspect. It is good if we have Kenyans who can deal with conflict related situations. We need to have enough Kenyans who can deal with conflict management and disaster preparedness. It is only a few years ago that we lost over 200 Kenyans through the bomb blast that hit the former American Embassy. At that time, friendly countries sent people who could deal with the situation. The WUST has established a faculty that will give that type of knowledge to Kenyans so that they can deal with refugees, conflict management and disasters such as the Tsunami which occurred recently. This is an innovative subject and we have others that will be taught in that university. I want to commend the Vice-Chancellor and the professors he is working with because they have been able to establish collaborative efforts with other universities. In particular, they are in collaboration with Chinese universities. They are also working together with the Coventry University and that is the right way to go because there will be need to exchange lecturers between the WUST and Coventry University---"
}