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{
"id": 453459,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/453459/?format=api",
"text_counter": 361,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Nyamunga",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 738,
"legal_name": "Rose Nyamunga Ogendo",
"slug": "rose-nyamunga-ogendo"
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"content": "The President said yesterday that they will forgo 20 per cent of their salary to allow the Government save only Kshs45 million in a whole year. What is Kshs45 million compared to the wage bill which stands at Kshs50 billion? To me, it does not make a lot of difference. I think that the most important thing that we should do with our education-- - This is because if you look at the system, you will realize that sometimes somebody goes to study in America or any other country but when he or she comes here--- A friend of mine left Kenya and she had a Masters degree in Medicine. When she went to the US, she had to be reduced to a mere nurse. It is not that I do not value nurses, but you cannot compare a doctor at a Masters level with a nurse. When she went to America, she was reduced to the level of being a nurse from a Masters level. In Kenya, at a Masters level, you are talking of a consultant. It is important that we regularize our education system, put all the bodies together and harmonize the standards so that they measure up to the international standards. This has to be all inclusive. First of all, we must look at the bodies that we have. What is it that each body within the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is addressing? After doing that, then we can come up with a proper Bill that will harmonize the education system. If you look at the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), it offers certificates, diplomas, Higher Diplomas and then it goes to the degree level. However, you realize that the same students, after getting a diploma from KIM, for instance, when they go to other universities, there is no exemption. Sometimes these students spend like two to three years still at diploma level. If you want to do a degree at the university level, there are no exemptions. You realize that if we put standards, they will allow that if you have a diploma from whichever institution, you must get exemptions. They should get, at least, up to two years. Some universities will accept and give exemptions of two years and others will not give all. We should harmonize the standards and accommodate students across the board. Kenyans value education a lot and we spend a lot of money educating our children. Therefore, there should be a way forward in terms of putting some of these regulations in place. Another thing which I think is important and we should look at when we are putting the Bill on education together, as I have already mentioned, is the matter of international standards. It should measure across that if I am a doctor in Kenya, if I go to the UK or any other African State, I should be at par with doctors in the rest of the world. If it is lesser than the rest of the world, then it means that we are giving sub-standard education. So, whatever we put in place, it must be up to international levels. However, it is not through another commission or another body. As I said earlier, I do not think we are going to stop regulating issues in Kenya because of the wage bill. The wage bill is a secondary thing. The most important thing is: Can we regulate all these commissions? Can we reduce the number of commissioners? Can we reduce the allowances that they earn? Those are the things that we should look at without going into side issues. We waste a lot of resources in this country. For example, in the recent Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results, many pupils will not join Form One because of the simple reason that some of them did not meet the threshold. The other reason is that there are no chances. We do not have enough secondary schools. So, we are going to have many dropouts at Standard Eight level. We are going to have many dropouts at Form Four level because universities can only take 100,000 plus. We are The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}