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{
    "id": 41616,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/41616/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 352,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kioni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 49,
        "legal_name": "Jeremiah Ngayu Kioni",
        "slug": "jeremiah-kioni"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me just highlight one or two things that should be obvious to Members of this House. One is that education is really a fundamental human right and it is enshrined in many numerous instruments that have been signed by our Government with other international partners. Just to highlight a few examples, there is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which talks about the need for free and compulsory basic education, and the International Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1976, which talks about the need for child protection and the right to education. The Covenant on Rights of the Child of 1989 also deals with the same issues. There is the Covenant on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women, which also deals with the need for education for all. We have the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of 1998, which also calls for access to quality education for all children. We have the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995, which was a conference of women which recognised education as a fundamental human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in our own Constitution, we have Articles 53 and 55 which also address these issues. Article 53(1)(b) talks about the rights of every child to access free basic and universal education. Article 55 talks about access to quality education for the youth. I need not over-emphasize the good things that come with an educated society. With education, you get economic empowerment of all the people. Even the level of national development is impacted upon by the level of education of a country’s citizenry. People who have access to education have the advantage of taking advantage of available opportunities to improve their wellbeing. Members of an educated community are more able to effectively participate in community activities and even in economic transactions at the market places. The attainment of education increases the capacity of a person to access basic services and means of production. They are also able to generate wealth. They can participate in governance, especially now that our Constitution calls for public governance. People will only be able to participate properly if we improve the level of education within our populace. Education reduces inequality, which has also been a subject of big debate in this country. Even our Constitution has addressed this issue in a big way. The health standards of our country will also improve when more of our own people access basic education. Generally, access to education leads to having people who can have sustainable livelihoods as opposed to the case at the moment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, access to quality education is a priority, if the long-term strategy for poverty alleviation and wealth creation are to be sustainably realised. In this country, we have very many projects and programmes which are funded by the Government and our development partners, which aim at alleviating poverty. Other projects aim at creation of wealth. It is not possible for us to achieve these objectives. We will continue making very small things if we do not address the issue of access to basic education and the need to ensure that our populace has a higher number of years in school than it is the case today. I should have mentioned that education will make the society more literate and provide us with an opportunity to identify talents amongst our people. Access to education will enable our people to acquire technical, managerial, marketing and entrepreneurial skills---"
}