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{
    "id": 599497,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/599497/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 284,
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    "content": "Students believe that as long as they have a certificate, it does not matter how they got the certificate or whether they have done research and their thesis is good. It is indeed one of the biggest challenges, and as legislators we need to ask ourselves whether this can take our country to the next level of industrialization. Are these students who are graduating able to move this country to the next level? It is something that we really need to look into. I believe that this House should not do things the way the National Assembly does theirs. This is a House that can bring solutions to some of the challenges that we face in this country. Therefore, when we see what the Kenya National Examinations Council has been doing for the last 20 years, we need to ask ourselves whether we have burdened our children with the 8-4-4 system to the extent that they cannot understand what we really want to achieve or whether the subjects are too many. Why are children panicking at the last minute to exams, forcing them to go on strike? Why is it that after doing all that, parents again start suffering following up the release of certificates for their children? Even when we had the old Constitution and the President gave an order requiring Principals to release certificates to students, you would still find a very powerful Principal who would not heed the directive from the President. This is something that we also need to ask the teachers. While we fight for them to get their salary, their performance is wanting and, therefore, it is not just the Kenya National Examinations Council, because at the end, who are the examiners? It is the teachers who are hired by the KNEC. Do we need to change the system of marking exams, so that everyone feels that his or her child is comfortable while she goes for the exams? These are issues that we need to raise. While we look at Article 43 of the Constitution, we also have to look at Article 47 (3). It appreciates that children in this country must be respected, especially in terms of their knowledge. In the recent weeks, I saw a situation where the Kenya National Examinations Council and the Ministry of Education mismanaged the leakages and cheating of KCSE 2015 exams and it was indeed sad. Internationally, we have put our children into a very critical situation, because if your child will want to join a credible university abroad and do exams in 2015. Those results can be questioned by that university. Therefore, as the Senate, we need to ask the Kenya National Examinations Council how they have managed that situation. Are we sure that parents are not going to suffer come next year and be told that this school was found cheating and, therefore, 100 students are not going to receive their certificates and that they have to repeat? We must call them and ask them what mechanisms they put in place to ensure they curb leakage of exams. As Sen. Musila amends the Bill to ensure we have free secondary education, the certificates must also be free because you cannot go for free education and then at the end, you are asked to pay for what you have been getting for free. That is one thing that has hurt Standard Eight pupils that we used to say we are offering free primary education to; but when it comes to exams, we ask their parents to pay for the exams. As we move on, the Government must ensure that when we talk of free, we should let the parents feel that it is indeed free service. It is also very sad when our children believe that to do well in examinations, they must cheat. That is how corruption 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."
}