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{
    "id": 95138,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/95138/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would want to start by thanking the Mover of this Motion. I want to say that I am in support of the spirit of this Motion. But nonetheless I find the wordings of the Motion a challenge to me. That is why I had initially wanted to bring an amendment. But knowing that we will have an opportunity, I hope the hon. Member will have an opportunity to bring an amendment to the substantive Act of Parliament. We will have an opportunity to put the issues of concern then. However, I reluctantly support the spirit of this Motion because of these reasons. For me, it is not an issue of balancing the cost, rather it is an issue of standardizing the system. Just like hon. Ababu Namwamba said, before I came to this Parliament I was an employer and employing mainly lawyers. One of the greatest things of concern that I can say without fear of contradiction is that many of the students who come through the parallel system, their education standards are very compromised. I do not think they get ample time in that education system. That must be looked into in the parallel system. Secondly, it is the issue of cost because it affects them both ways. In the parallel system, they pay very high fees as opposed to their counterparts although I am being told that the net effect is the same because the fees is the same except the other students have access to Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). This does not help because it means that only the rich people would be able to access education. This is already happening if you look at parts of Nyanza which is affected because of a myriad of issues such as poverty and everything. Many students who get B- (minus) do not go to the university and yet there are students from other parts of the country who access that education because they can pay for it. If we want to deal with the issue of inequality in this country, we must address not the issue of costs, but the issue of the system of education, especially the parallel system of education. I hope the Mover will bring appropriate amendments so that this does not only extend to the parallel system, but also to our students that study out of this country. You will find students who completely do not meet the pass mark, for example, a Mean Grade of D, studying law out of this country. When they come back they want to undertake the degree course and yet many of them do not have the competencies. Unfortunately, life is stratified and God intended us to have different skills and talents. We cannot all be lawyers and doctors. We should be able to help students choose their careers wisely depending on their capabilities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I wish to reluctantly support this Motion."
}