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{
    "id": 367245,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/367245/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
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    "content": "Fund Committees (CDFCs) and such other institutions that may be willing to support such students. I move this Motion in the light of what free education has done to this country and acknowledging what more it can help us do for this country. We are now 50 years old and when we gained Independence; our key agenda was to eliminate poverty, disease, ignorance and the general suffering of the Kenyan people. Fifty years down the line, it is a shame that so many people of this country, especially from poor backgrounds cannot complete their basic education. We must appreciate what education means to this nation. We are here because somehow the education system and the social structures of this dear nation helped us to get where we are. Personally, I am a grandson of a peasant and I schooled in the largest slum in this country, the Machaka Slums in Buuri. There are many like me who cannot rise from such humble backgrounds simply because the social and the academic structure of this nation cannot support them. That is what I seek to have these children address. Over the many years of civilization, the humankind society has progressed simply because they have had a civilization that supports the needy to go up the social ladder. If in Kenya we cannot implement the same, then we are doomed to fail. We are doomed to condemn the hardworking, gifted but poor children of this country to remain where they are. I acknowledge that we have some funds for the bursary from the Ministry of Education. We have some funds for bursaries under the CDF but that is not enough and whatever hon. Members are trying to do in their own capacities and affirmative action to move this nation forward, is still not enough. There must be a law. I exercise this based on what I have witnessed in my own constituency. In so many schools in Buuri – the largest constituency in Meru County and yet one of the most needy – very many children performed very well. They were admitted in some of the leading schools of this nation but five months down the line, they have not been able to report to their new schools yet they applied for bursaries and some of them have not been granted. For others, the Government does not care where they are. A few weeks ago we began the Buuri Education Welfare (BEW) and we have given scholarships to a few of them and they are doing very well wherever they are. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am speaking knowing that is it not only in Buuri but it applies all over the country; very needy children but very bright. The few that we have supported have done very well. From the slums of Machaka last year, we educated a boy who went to Maranda High School and right now he is the second best in a class of 265. Many others that we have supported using the BEW have gone far. Many of them have joined Ontulili High School, the second best high school in Meru County and No.17 in Kenya. However, such initiatives are still not enough. We still have in villages in Buuri students who scored 350, 370 and 380 marks out of the possible 500 marks still languishing in poverty. They cannot afford a single pair of shoes. They cannot afford fare to school. They cannot afford many things. I wish to acknowledge that if they are given just a little support to complete their secondary education--- I wish to appreciate the support the system this country offers to children who are seeking higher education because there is the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and other scholarships from noble corporate in this country. But in the secondary level, a lot needs to be done and if this does not happen, then we have a long way to go before we develop Kenya."
}