Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 686460,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/686460/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 206,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Chebet",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 550,
        "legal_name": "Susan Kipketer Chebet",
        "slug": "susan-kipketer-chebet"
    },
    "content": "We should look at the roles of universities. One is teaching. They are performing that role quite perfectly, although they have shortage of staff. They also do not have enough knowledge. If they do not carry out research and innovation, they will not get enough knowledge to disseminate to the students. We also know that extension is part of teaching in the university. Of late, we have realised that it is not being done. Most of the extension work universities do when they go out is market their courses and yet, they are supposed to disseminate knowledge that is generated through research. The CUE should concentrate on that so that we get quality education, have competent students and teaching staff who can produce knowledge that we require to achieve Vision 2030. We have talked a lot about Vision 2030, but we do not have strategies in place that will help us produce the manpower or human resource to steer the economic activities towards it. We also need to look at the universities that offer similar courses. We have always known what each university is good for. We know the courses that Egerton University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Moi University, University of Nairobi (UoN) and Kenyatta University offer, but we have a lot of duplication. We should streamline the courses that are offered by universities so that they are specialised and produce quality education. We also need to look at the courses offered to our students. Sometimes, they choose courses but when choices for universities are released, they realise that they have been offered courses that they did not choose. They find it hard to change those courses and they end up doing courses that were not their choice. We need to also look at the access to university education in terms of school fees payment. In 1970s and 1980s, we used Government money for our university education that we later repaid when we were employed. We now have the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) that we thought will sought out the fees issue, but it is not the case. Back in the countryside, we do a lot of Harambees to get school fees because the HELB Fund that was passed in this august House is not enough. The other day, the President said that 10,000 students will start learning in private universities. I wish the Government had put in more money to HELB so that all students can access it. You can imagine two students sitting in the same classroom, but one pays Kshs100,000 and the other one pays Kshs26,000. That is a big discrepancy that might cause bad feelings among students. We should harmonise that so that our students can access HELB loans universally."
}