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{
"id": 92839,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/92839/?format=api",
"text_counter": 202,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to support this Vote. From the outset, I want to talk about a number of challenges that are key in this Ministry. Whether we like it or not, whether we have introduced free primary education or not, whether we have subsidized secondary school education or not, our education system remains the most unequal and it is becoming more unequal with time. So, really, we have to address this challenge because of the opportunities that go with the ability to buy expensive education, which is so much the case now. Very few of our own children from peasant and other backgrounds that are not so advantaged are able to make it through the system and to serious educational programmes even under the universities. We, therefore, need to make public schools more attractive because our public primary schools are not attractive even to the teachers who teach in them. This is why their own children are not enrolled in those schools that they are head teachers of, but in academies. One way of improving standards in public schools is what the Minister has been doing; putting in resources for teacher recruitment, text books, quality assurance and so on. But I think one other way is by making it very clear that you can come from public schools and end up in top schools that we are calling national schools and centres of excellence. Therefore, that policy of proportionate admission to the best schools on the basis of candidates from public and private schools needs to be revisited. I have always said if it could be considered during the days of KANU, I think for us who are much more believers in equity should be the first ones to want to implement it so that we give that hope to those children from those poor public schools. On Secondary schools, we have to ask questions about whether or not we can manage to keep pace with the current rate of expansion of secondary schools, and especially day schools. Every year, we are saying we have a shortage of teachers. But how are teachers going to be enough if every year, Members of Parliament and communities are opening a new secondary school all the time? How is that going to be possible? I think it is time we said; let us consolidate and strengthen the secondary schools that we have already opened. Once those are strong enough, I think we need a break and say that for the next four years, no more new secondary schools, let us support those we have with enough teachers and facilities so that they can compete. Otherwise, it is going to be a problem for the next few years. I hope also we do more to support expansion of private secondary schools. If we have so many private academies at the primary school level, what is to prevent us from encouraging those children who come from those kinds of institutions who can afford a private secondary school education to also follow that line and all the way to the university? What we are finding now is that even our own public universities have become the biggest private universities with that parallel degree programme. So if you can afford expensive primary school education, why can we not have another similar channel at the secondary school level for those who can afford to pay for that at Kabarak, Sunshine and many other private secondary schools that we have? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, now we have a new constitution and we are thinking more national. Education is very well placed to support nationalism in this country. Therefore, we must go back and ask questions about the policy of national admissions to secondary schools. We have centres of excellence and now we have counties. Why do we not have centres of excellence based around districts? I agree with those who say that we need to have another one in every district so that it is not a boys or girls school but we have at least schools that we call national at the county level. If we had one top boys school and one top girls school at every county, out of about 50 counties, we would have 100 top schools which can be national schools. So I disagree that we have to put money in the already existing national schools when we should be building more national schools to be able to recruit students from all over the country so that we release the pressure from the 20 national secondary schools that have been concentrated in certain parts of this country. I think it is high time that Kshs 1 billion shillings should be going to creating new national schools in our counties so that students are taken nationally. One way of also releasing that pressure is; once we have those national schools, a student can be admitted to a national school in Marsabit, Meru or Mombasa. If they refuse, then their parents can take them to a private secondary school. But that is one way of forcing national unity through admission. I would like to also say that this relates to teachers. It is okay for us to recruit teachers locally. There is a quota because we want to have teacher representation across the whole country. But I do not see what is wrong with recruiting locally as we are doing now but sending those teachers to the TSC and asking the TSC to deploy them nationally. So if you are recruited from Meru, you should be posted to another county. I beg to support."
}