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{
    "id": 95140,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/95140/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Shabesh",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 377,
        "legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
        "slug": "rachel-shebesh"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to support this Motion although I have some critical issues to raise. I want to speak candidly about the attitude that some hon. Members have against students under the parallel degree programme. It is as if they are a lesser level of students. The education system in this country has perpetuated a culture where even a bright student somewhere in between primary school and secondary school can be lost and not find entry into the university. Such a student would, therefore, need a second chance. What do I mean? About 80 per cent of the national schools positions are taken up by students from private schools. I am talking about schools such as Mang’u High School and Alliance High School. These are the students who get absorbed into university. What happened to those students who went to public schools and were doing very well, but because of the hardships that many of the Members have spoken about here were not able to reach university level? I know that the intentions of the Government when starting the parallel degree programme must have been noble. It was to absorb those who were lost in the education system. I believe that if it was to accommodate those who had money and wanted to pay for their students, then they would have gone to the private universities that we have. Even today, many Kenyan parents take their children to private universities in Uganda. I really believe that what parents are looking for when they go for the parallel system is the quality of the degree that they believe their daughter or son will get in the Kenyan universities, because we do have a track record. Therefore, I believe that it would be wrong for us to feel threatened or in any way aggrieved by a system that is called a parallel system. I think it is a misconception and the perception that has been created by people that has led to a lot of questions being asked about this parallel programme. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since we agree that most of our students are lost within the system of coming up to the universities, the cost of parallel education of the universities in Kenya should be made affordable. But if we are to be true to this Motion where it says that the institutions also need sources of income to become sustainable, then we must know that these parallel programmes are also giving universities the kind of money they will never get from the Treasury. Many universities have used this money very well to improve their services and facilities. So, if you want on one hand institutions to be improved in terms of the kind of infrastructure they have and the services they provide and on the other hand, you want to reduce the cost of the parallel programme, then you must get a balance. I know that the Government is giving loans also to parallel students and so, for me the balance would be to ask the Government to increase this amount, so that parallel students also get the same support that the regular students get. But even in developed countries, many parents save for years for their children’s college education. It is important for us to realize that as a country, we are giving free primary education which, in my opinion, has compromised the education standards in our country. We are also giving free secondary education, which in my opinion again has compromised the quality of education of our secondary school system. I would not be in a rush to say that we must give everybody a chance in the university system because it will compromise the quality again of our education system at the university level and at the end of the day, produce the kind of professionals that the hon. Member who spoke before me said who sometimes could be substandard. In some of the professions that we talk about, we know the kind of qualifications we must attain. So, let us be fair in this debate and to those who go for parallel programmes because they go to get what they get in terms of education. Let us also be fair to the parents who have to pay for parallel programmes because their children did not meet the grade. Also, let us be fair to the universities, who unless the Government is willing to pump in more money, must find a source of income that can help them improve the infrastructure and the kind of services they offer. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}