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    "id": 426034,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/426034/?format=api",
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    "content": "plight of poor students in our public secondary schools. I also thank him for the relentless effort that he has made to ensure that this matter is resolved. Madam Temporary Speaker, as you have heard, in November 2004, Parliament, the supreme legislative organ of this nation, passed a Motion seeking the release of all certificates held by schools on account of unpaid balances of fees. The same Motion required that schools stop the practice of withholding certificates. Indeed, the Government then issued instructions to all heads of schools to release any such certificates held. Indeed, some of the certificates were released, but only once, at that time. We have even seen that subsequently, legislation was passed in the National Assembly, through an amendment to the Kenya National Examinations Council Act. That amendment was very specific that certificates shall not be withheld from the candidate by any person or institution. That is a law passed through an Act of Parliament. Madam Temporary Speaker, one would ask: “Why are we being called upon to debate this Motion?” A number of fundamental issues are being raised through this Motion by Sen. Musila. First, this is really a signal that free primary and secondary education is not working in this country. Secondly, it is really a signal of the depth and extent of impunity in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, the fact that law cannot be enforced and Parliament will pass laws which nobody cares to implement, is precisely what we were trying to address. When we rafted the new Constitution, we wanted to ensure that the citizens of this country operate within the law. The law is supposed to be obeyed, practised and to guide our lives. This is what we were trying to achieve when we passed the current Constitution. This also shows that our systems have virtually collapsed and we should not be talking about this in this House again. We should be asking the law enforcers including the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to explain to us why action has not been taken against those violating the law. Madam Temporary Speaker, fees and payments to schools for our children is the responsibility of parents or guardians. What are these schools achieving by holding certificates of students? They should be looking for other means of recovering money from the parents. They should be looking for other forms of punishment to the parents and not the students. The Constitution of Kenya under the Bill of Rights gives every Kenyan child the right to education. The children have gone to school and exercised their rights but once they have finished school and are due for award of certificates, they should be given the certificates without anybody feeling that they have a right to withhold them. Nobody has a right to hold the certificate of a student. Madam Temporary Speaker, the second point that I want to raise here is that the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) by law, examines students but in the same law, the Council is supposed to award certificate to students directly and not through schools. Why is KNEC not doing that? When I studied in those years in Cambridge, there was a direct relationship between myself as a candidate and the Cambridge Institute. That certificate was awarded to me directly and not through the school where I went. 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."
}