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{
    "id": 599504,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/599504/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not want to belabour the point which has already been talked about by my colleagues. However, we must realise that we are not an equal society. Kenya is one of the most unequal societies in the world. We know very well that we do not have schools for the poor and schools for the rich or schools for the children of Senators and schools for the children from unemployed parents. Therefore, we must take all these into account. The poverty levels in some regions are higher than other regions. We know that there are children in schools who are complete orphans. Even when you talk about the most minimal and yet we do not have a policy that takes care of that category of children, it is true that we have very high levels of unemployment. When you check the level of unemployment of parents whose children are still in primary schools or have just gotten into secondary schools, you will see that it is very high. For that matter, some parents are forced to take early retirement packages. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when I was listening to news yesterday, I learnt the sad fact that because of global warming, about 200 million people per year, towards 2015, will be relegated to living below the poverty line. Therefore, we have to think and act out of the box if we want to sustain the education system. Even as people earn less, become more unemployed and poverty levels increase, we have to ensure that we do not punish our children who are the future of this nation. We should not allow the fact that only a small number will be able, in the next few years to go through school and manage to pay the entire school fees in order to get their certificates. We must ensure that these kinds of policies that we pass in the Senate and even in the “Lower Chamber” are implemented, to ensure that we save our children. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, lastly, I want to talk about the issue of information. It is very sad that sometimes schools do not take it upon themselves to inform parents on time. It is only when you go to collect the certificate of your child that you are reminded that you did not clear school fees, pay development fund money and other things. Teachers know that at that time, you are really desperate to get the certificate out. They also know that you are also not in a position to produce the receipts that you were given three years ago. Therefore, as a parent, you are left at a very disadvantaged position. You have to pay through the nose or leave it at the mercy of the head teacher to see what to do. One thing leads to the other and before you know it, your child will have gotten into something. That brings me to a very sad issue which has been highlighted by Sen. Elachi. This is about the quality of certificates that our children will hold, especially those who have sat their examinations this year. Kenya’s certificates have been held in very high esteem the world over. If we do not sustain that, then unemployment will even be worse. People who have undergone the Kenyan education system have been absorbed internationally because our education system has been held in high esteem and the human resource from Kenya has been favoured the world over. If we lose that, it means that even those who have been absorbed internationally will end up here with us and the situation nationally is already bad. That means that we will not do very well. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the policy of releasing certificates should be implemented and records of students should be kept so that when they are employed, they 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."
}