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"id": 942334,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kirinyaga Central, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Munene Wambugu",
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"legal_name": "John Munene Wambugu",
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Before I say much, let me take this opportunity to wish the KCPE and KCSE candidates especially from Kirinyaga Central all the best. I want to start by profusely thanking all the Members from the deepest point of my heart for their contribution which has enriched this Motion. Through their contribution, I have also learnt a lot on what we need to do especially those who urged me to consider moving this Motion to a Bill or to amend the existing Education Act so that we can anchor the into law such that going forward, it will not be an issue of urging the Government to implement this policy but a requirement. This House needs to look at Article 55 of the Constitution. That Article guarantees or requires the Government to ensure that all youth access quality education and skills. It is a constitutional requirement. It is one which inspired me to come with this Motion. Time has come when we have to give our youth access to education which is not just education but quality education. The impact of this Motion, if it were to be passed – I believe it will be passed because all the Members who spoke were all in support. In fact, there is no Member who opposed this Motion. All of them spoke in support. If it were to be implemented; I will urge the Committee on Implementation to follow up. This will have far reaching impact which will be felt in many years to come. What has been happening is that, once our Form Four candidates get out, which is still a tender age of 17, 18 or19 years, apart from those who qualify to go to universities and others whose parents are endowed, are able to take them to colleges. Most of them, almost 60 per cent, are left hanging. If this Motion was to be implemented to the letter, it will mean that every candidate who do Form Four exams, whether he qualifies to university or not, will automatically get a letter to join a college of their choice so long as they have met the qualification required in that college or for that course. Even the people with grades “C”, “D” and “E” do not mean that they cannot be trained to be good carpenters, plumbers or electricians. We will be able to follow all our candidates after Form Four. There is an issue of budget constraints or the money required to implement this Motion. It is not a lot. From nursey all the way to Form Four, the Government has already committed and used too much money on these students. So, asking for three years more to make this person acquire skills which can help him or her to earn a living will not be asking too much. In any event, even when we talk about Vision 2030 or even about the Big Four, without proper education and proper skills, our country will not achieve that. If you look around the world, for example, Germany, Australia or USA, there is no country which develops without investing in education and skills of its people. In fact, the biggest resource a country can have is its human resource. With a proper well educated population, you have a chance to become a First Class country without having to rely on minerals or other things. The other beauty is that, with good skills, you open up your scope. You do not need to look for a job in Kenya. You can even become a very good mechanic and go to work in America or elsewhere. That means we will be creating a workforce which can work, not just within our boundaries, but even outside. That way, they will earn a living and keep on enjoying Diaspora remittance to the country. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}