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{
    "id": 365946,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/365946/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 241,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion. When you look at our Constitution, Article 43(1)(f), every Kenyan is entitled to education. I think it is on the basis of this that we all need to have our children going to school. But when we look at the ASAL areas, we realize that girls are disadvantaged in terms of accessing education. When you analyze the national education indicators, they are all unfavourable to the girl-child. For example, when you look at the enrolment rate, you will realize that it is low for the girl-child. When you consider the dropout rate, it is also very high in the case of the girl-child. That also applies to the transition rates; they are quite low. Many girls enroll at Standard One but by the time they get to Standard Eight, a number of things have happened; what we call “extracurricular activities” will have forced them to drop out of school. In view of these factors, I think it is important that we all support this Motion. I get concerned when I hear some hon. Members saying that this situation also exists in many other parts of Kenya. I think we all, as Kenyans, also appreciate the fact that some regions of this country are disadvantaged; that is why we have the Equalization Fund ; it is meant to be used to see if we can push those regions to catch up with the rest of Kenya. I also think that when you look at the kind of distances covered in some of the ASAL areas to get to school--- Most of the girls will be expected to cover around ten kilometers in the morning to get to school. What this does is that it forces the parents to wait until the children, or the girl-child is about eight or nine years to join Standard One. That forces them to start their education when it is late and because of that they drop out and get into early marriages. Even when you look at the cultural practices in some of the ASAL areas, they discourage the girl-child from pursuing her education. I want to plead with all hon. Members to support this Motion, so that at the end of the day, the girl-child accesses education. This can easily be done if we support the construction of the boarding schools in ASAL areas. I totally agree with those saying that educating a girl-child is educating the nation. We all believe it! Those of us who are not lucky to have mothers who are literate, I am sure we have been disadvantaged in one way or another; this is because an educated mother is able to take care of her children better than one who has not gone to school. Research has also confirmed that an educated mother, or woman, is able to manage her businesses better. She is able to keep simple books of accounts and because of that she is able to differentiate between profit and loss. We find that ladies who are educated do better in businesses and it is important that we support this Motion. As I conclude, the other thing I want to say is that good education for the girl- child comes as a package. Doing the boarding school alone will not provide that package, and I think we should support teachers. We all know that teachers are up in arms for their allowances. I think it is high time we supported the girl-child to access education; we should also motivate the teachers enough, so that they can provide services to the"
}