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{
    "id": 88191,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/88191/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 320,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Machage",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 179,
        "legal_name": "Wilfred Gisuka Machage",
        "slug": "wilfred-machage"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I congratulate hon. Yusuf Chanzu for this very noble exercise of bringing this Motion to the Floor of this House. Indeed, the increase of students has been exponential. During my time at the university in the 1970s, the total university population in the country was slightly below 2,000, about 30 per cent of whom were foreign students. We now have over 200,000 students in the universities, most of whom are from needy backgrounds. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Fund, which was established in the 1970s, initially used to give grants. I remember that when the law was passed in 1995, HELB got powers to demand payment from all the students who had benefitted from it, even from the 1970s. I was a beneficiary at that time, and I paid back. HELB is a revolving fund which used to have proper auditing and proper collection modalities; this enhanced the capacity of this Fund to support many students. I would not want to agree with Dr. Khalwale, who talked of exclusion from the Fund from what he called “people who have gone into menopause”. I think that was derogatory. When does men’s menopause start anyway? I think it was gender insensitive. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, in any case, Dr. Khalwale may be propagating what I may call “academic dwarfism” by limiting the age at which people should have education. We would not have very eloquent and well exposed professors, whose lives are about having education throughout their lifespan; that was a bit myopic. HELB should be seen to be well distributed. I am proud to say that one of the earlier chief executives of HELB was somebody from my own constituency. Indeed, Prof. Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha did a good job. Others may have followed his footsteps."
}