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"id": 95126,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Njuguna",
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"speaker": {
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"legal_name": "Peter Njuguna Gitau",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support this very important Motion. This is a very noble idea and a better chance for those who were not able to be admitted to our public universities to have an opportunity to go and learn. The manner in which we execute, or manage, this programme is disadvantageous to the parallel degree students. There are glaring challenges that need to be addressed. One of the challenges that the parallel degree students face at these universities is unfairness when you come to the issue of fees. These students pay higher fees than the regular students, and this is an issue that is tantamount to denial of learning at our universities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fees paid by the parallel degree students keeps on increasing year after year, and this is not good for the students who are determined to learn. This is more or less like discrimination. All these are Kenyan students who should enjoy fairness when we consider giving opportunities to our students. The same students do not enjoy loans from the Higher Education Loans Board. This is a facility that must be enjoyed by all the students. Regular students do enjoy lower rates in terms of fees. This does not auger well for these young Kenyans. When you look at the facilities that are offered at the universities, regular students enjoy better facilities, thus creating superiority complex at the universities. They have better ICT rooms, laboratories and libraries whereas the parallel degree students are normally requested to go to Jamhuri High School or Parklands High School, where they are exposed to inadequate facilities that does not support quality learning for them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you look at the lecturers at these universities who are given the responsibility to handle the parallel degree students, they are over-worked. You will find them handling a class of 750 students instead of a class of 200 students. Therefore, the lecturers are over-worked, overburdened and at times they are not in a position to cover the syllabus. If they are not able to cover the course in good time, the students are requested to pay for additional lectures. You will find that a course that is intended to take four years, at times will take five years. The fee burden also falls on the parents of these students, subjecting them to unnecessary costs It also exposes the lecturers to unnecessary stress. These students pay a lot of fees, and these fees are not proportionate to those paid by regular students. A regular student taking a course similar to a course taken by a parallel student may pay Kshs300,000 whereas the parallel degree student pays Kshs495,000. This is a difference of almost Kshs185,000. This is an amount that the parent cannot afford. We want these disparities to be sorted out immediately. When the lecturers are overworked, quality teaching and effective learning at our universities are really compromised. There are a lot of funds that are collected by public universities from parallel degree programmes. This money, which amounts to billions of shillings, must be invested in expanding learning facilities in these universities. It was evident when we visited the universities that even small projects had been done with this money. It is high time, therefore, that the university administration was requested to account for this money. If they are requested to account for this money, it will be possible then for this money to be put to better use to create conducive learning facilities for our students. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, at times the parallel degree students are disadvantaged, because they are not able to pay the examination fees in good time. This means, therefore, that they are unable to sit for examinations as required. They stay in the university for longer periods. Therefore, it is important that we standardize the fees in these universities, so that Kenyans will enjoy equal distribution of resources in this nation. With those few remarks, I support harmonization of this programme."
}