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{
    "id": 662305,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/662305/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Sunjeev",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13136,
        "legal_name": "Sunjeev Kour Birdi",
        "slug": "sunjeev-kour-birdi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to lend my few thoughts to this very important amendment Bill. From the outset, I would like to appreciate the young students who are with us in the Gallery listening to this debate because it concerns them. I hope when they go back home today, they take what Parliament is talking about ranking. Ranking is based on performance and everybody knows that. Even when a young person, man or woman, goes to apply for a job, the first thing that the company asks is the grades. The better grades you have, the better chance you have to get the job. So, ranking has been put in place as a tool of measure in many forms of life. Many Members of Parliament have mentioned this. It goes to say that without ranking, we would not be able to differentiate an apple from an apple. So, where is the problem? The problem is that ranking brings extraordinary pressure to children. I have never been an intelligent student but when it came to arts, I was exceptional. That is how many students are. The fact is that with this ranking, when many students get under a lot of pressure, it brings out a different nature in them. Do we support this ranking? Unfortunately, we do. At the moment, we have world’s top 20 projects which rank over 200 nations. It monitors education systems for students and development from ages of 3 to 25. So, you can imagine they rank these students from the age of three and you can imagine the extraordinary pressure that is put on the child from that age, but they have to do so, so that these children can grow up in the spirit of competition. This competition is instilled in them from a very young age. I must commend the children who work efficiently under this pressure. I would also like to mention that this ranking system is going to demand a lot of accountability. As has been mentioned before, it gives teachers a lot of pressure so that the school can perform. In my opinion, if a public school that does not have many resources is doing very well in terms of ranking, then you will find children who are coming from better social backgrounds being admitted to that school because they want to be taught by the best teachers and be amongst the best performing children. Kenya ranks strongest in personal freedom and choice in a social progress index. This says a lot. People say that Kenya is not doing very well in many instances but it is doing well as far as personal freedom and choice is concerned. Citizens from other parts of the world like China would like to come to Kenya because they get a better choice in personal freedom. Therefore, I support this Bill and I would like to commend the Cabinet Secretary for his efforts. I support this Bill. Thank you."
}