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{
    "id": 542171,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/542171/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 181,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ombaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, zeroing-in on examination fee, there is a lot of unfairness on the part of the school administration in some cases. There is always a deadline for submission of examination fee to the KNEC. The most disturbing thing is that some head teachers do not remit the examination fee in time, to the extent that some candidates miss the examination. That has been really unfair. No action has ever been taken against heads of schools that do not remit examination fee to the examination body. Students have to wait for another year to sit for the examination simply because a mistake was made by the school head teacher, by failing to submit the examination fee to the KNEC. We need to be very firm. Head teachers who do not remit the examination fees on time and consequently make students fail to sit for examination should have been charged for messing up the education of the students. Another thing is that the examination fee has been very high. It is so high that many parents cannot afford. I suppose that the Government is coming in to take care of that problem. As to whether they will implement it or not, that is another matter. I have read it in the Press many times that the Ministry intends to take care of examination fees in public schools. If that is the case, it is a good move because it will ease the burden on parents. That is part of free education. It may be “free” because education is actually not free in this country. It is said to be free but parents still continue to pay some fees. What I would like to emphasise is that, apart from the school fees that students find difficult to pay, the school system is still very expensive in many ways. Even if the money is paid, the education structures of schools are not satisfactory. I have seen many schools in my area that lack proper infrastructure. The fee that is charged should be properly utilised. We should begin to see or evaluate how much fees is being paid and what development is going on in each school. Some schools do not have desks in the 21st Century. Students still learn under trees and sit on stones. If you walk into some school compounds over lunch hour, you will see students eating under trees. You should see the kitchens; they are terrible. Although we are in the 21st Century, some schools look like they are in the 1950s, when schools had been established. They are still not established to this day yet parents continue to pay a lot of money. There are no improvements seen in schools in terms of infrastructure. That is why a lot of emphasis should be put on this matter. If the Jubilee Government wants to succeed, education is one area that they should put effort in and ensure that every aspect of education is properly addressed, including availability of teachers in terms of numbers. Parents pay salaries to some teachers because the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has not employed enough teachers. The entire education sector in this country is in total mess. With those remarks, I beg to support the Motion."
}