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{
    "id": 403760,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/403760/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 171,
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    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, some of the things that we talk about here appear as if they are outdated in the sense that they should have come earlier. We are about to celebrate 50 years of Independence and that is when we are talking about them. You might be surprised that there is a lot of talk which has taken place here and will take place, but we need implementation. We need not to be seen like we are a talking shop. Let it be seen like we are moving somewhere, because talk without implementation will take us nowhere. Madam Temporary Speaker, last week, I was in France. We happened to go to one of the educational institutions in Paris. We realized that when the children are very young, even before they are five years old, their talents are identified. So, instead of their parents deciding which class to take them to, there is a system of identifying talents in some children. Some will go to study aviation while others will go to study engineering, medicine and so on. As a result, France has a bank of scholars who can develop those talents from primary, secondary and even universities. That is what our earlier system of education aimed at before we shifted to the 8-4-4 system of education. The system aimed at making someone a specialist in his or her field. Today that is not happening. It is like every other person comes up with a policy, which is taken over by the Government. To me, this is wrong. We should be able to test and determine whether whatever policy is proposed is suitable for the entire country. This is because somebody will come up with a policy today. However, after he leaves office, somebody else comes up with another one and there will be no reference to the past development. That is why we are just moving one step forward and another step backwards. That is why when we go outside the country, they ask us: “You have been here so many times. Why do you keep on coming every other time?” Every other time there are Committees going to visit Korea, Malaysia and Australia to a point where are even told: “Do not even come, because we do not hear of any development from your visits.” Madam Temporary Speaker, this Motion is very important and I wish that it could be taken further from where it is now and become a policy. Let it be handled by the relevant authorities, so that we can tailor-make our people to take up various fields. There are many Kenyans who are talented. Even as we plan to introduce laptops, there are some children who will pick up very fast, but there are some who will struggle and never understand the concept, because they are not talented in that line. Maybe they have talent in history or knowing where rivers originate from and how they can develop irrigation schemes. Since we have diverse ideas, the curriculum could be changed a bit so that we can identify, develop, maintain and manage different talents. Between 2003 and 2004 when I was the Chairman of the Committee on Education, we visited Malaysia. We discovered that in Malaysia, the Government pays a lot of attention to high school students. Whenever a student discovers or comes up with an innovation of a kind, he is given a lot of support and even scholarships. He is even attached to a certain department in the mother Ministry. That student will continue guarding the interest of the country to very high heights. But in our country the Government will spend so much money in training doctors, for example, and then abandon them later when they start to be innovative. Madam Temporary Speaker, if we can get to know who is talented in what, we will develop that talent very early. That is how we can come up with our own scientists in future. I The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}