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{
    "id": 419597,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/419597/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hassan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 431,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Omar Hassan Sarai",
        "slug": "hassan-omar-hassan-sarai"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir for giving me this opportunity. Mine is also to come here and to support this Motion by Sen. (Dr.) Zani which is extremely timely. The Motion comes at a time when the Senate must address itself to the holistic approach to adult education; universities being just one of the many components of education. That is not in doubt. Our universities have been commercialized such that the quality and standards have been compromised. Therefore, as we move forward to discuss this issue that faces us, substantively, the Committee is responsible and some Senators who can take leadership in this area like Prof. Lonyangapuo, Prof. Lesan and the rest of you who have been involved in this should know that it is time that we rewrote the whole philosophy of education in this country. That said and done, Sen. Muthama picked a point that I have argued passionately about in various fora. If you will notice, in this country, the only institutions that go on strike are public institutions. This is the public healthcare and public education. What Sen. Muthama has said is that the elite of this country hardly step in these institutions unless we are doing some politics. At what point, does the Cabinet Secretary for Health visit hospitals? This will happen only if he wants to take an opportunity. I do not ever believe that there would be a solution to the problems in this country until and unless, we, in leadership, lead by example. In due course, we, as the Senate, must formulate rules as much as we know that there is freedom of choices and movement. We should make it mandatory, for Cabinet Secretary for Health and his family to visit public hospitals and get healthcare. It is only after feeling the pinch that the President, the Deputy President and all other Members who are charged with the responsibility around these hospitals will be obligated and mandated to visit these hospitals as the hospital of choice even when they and their families fall ill. It must be compulsory for us to take our children to public schools and universities. This is the only way that we can avert strikes. The university lecturers’ strike, as Sen. Muthama said, is happening when some of our children are safe and sound. They are in the United States, the United Kingdom and they have benefited from scholarships that they, probably, took by virtue of the offices that they hold. Therefore, unless and until we instill a sense of discipline and sacrifice, how can you be a Cabinet Secretary of a university that you do not have the confidence to take your children to? How can you be a Cabinet Secretary of a hospital that you cannot go to in order to receive treatment? Unless we evaluate how we move forward in this country, these issues will not be resolved. The children who are at home are those of poor people. I was out of the university severally because of strikes. I remember students who were in the university with me just because their fathers were Ministers and Permanent Secretaries. They did not even see me and they would not even know what I was doing in class. I only heard that they had moved to go and do their pupilage, way before I completed university because they benefited from a scholarship to Australia, United 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."
}