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"id": 95141,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Nyambati",
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"speaker": {
"id": 116,
"legal_name": "Walter Enock Osebe Nyambati",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also rise to support this Motion strongly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a country that cannot take care of its youth or invest in its children is doomed. Indeed, in this country, we have a duty to ensure that we invest in the education of our children. In doing so, we are giving our children a dream. We are making them dream to be anything they want to be, for example, engineers, doctors, Members of Parliament or anything that they want to be. But we cannot make our children believe in the beauty of the dream if we cannot give them the education that they deserve. For us to do so, first of all, we must go back and see the imbalance in our education, especially in the rural areas. There is a lot of imbalance in terms of the education that we give to our children. Look at the kind of education that children in national schools get and the one that children in rural areas get, surely, you cannot say that there is equality or equity. There is no equity at all. If you go to Alliance High School or Nairobi School, for example, you will find that a student who goes there has everything that it takes to pass. The school is equipped with everything, including enough teachers and food. But if you go to secondary schools in my constituency, for example, you will find a secondary school having maybe one or two teachers. How can these two teachers teach these students to be able to compete effectively? They cannot do so. If we have to give equal opportunities to our children, I think it is our responsibility as a nation and this Government to ensure that our schools have what it takes for our children to be able to get the quality education that they must have. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is extremely important that this country establishes enough institutions of higher learning for our children to be able to get the kind of education that they want. This is because we do not have enough institutions. I want to urge the Government to expand the existing institutions, including universities and even open more, so that our children can get the kind of education that they want. We must give them the opportunity to study. If the Government has set C+ (plus) as a criteria for university entry, it must be a criteria which enables any student who wants to join university to do so. If you choose wherever you want to go, you cannot do so because the vacancies and resources are not there. So, I think as a nation, it is our responsibility to ensure that those who come from families and homes which cannot afford university education are enabled to do so either by some kind of soft loans or Government programmes which enable our children to go to universities. This is because many children from poor homes, who happen to pass to join universities but do not have As--- It is difficult for a student from a rural area which has no facilities or enough teachers to get an âAâ grade and join a public university. If you find one this is a very bright student who if given a chance, can excel even much better than those who are in private schools. Most students who join good high schools are from private schools and belong to parents who are able to pay for extra tuition for their children to be able to pass well. So, there is a big imbalance in terms of students from both rural areas and private schools. So, it is our responsibility to ensure that we give our children an equal opportunity to be able to excel in education. This is because this is everything and the only investment that we can give to our children. Therefore, it is our responsibility, as a nation, to wake up and ensure that we give the children of this nation a chance to be what they want to be. This may not be my children or yours, but they are our children. They are the nationâs future. As I said, a nation which cannot invest in its youth is doomed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am urging the Government to come up with ways of ensuring that, first, our schools are well equipped both in towns and rural areas. This should include national schools, so that there is no imbalance. Secondly, that there is affordability of attaining whatever kind of education you want to get. Thirdly, when you attain the minimum qualifications of joining university, you are allowed to do a course of your choice. You can become an engineer or a doctor. I strongly believe that a child from the rural area who has a C (plus) is equivalent to a child who had it all and went to a national school and attained Grade âA.â This student, given a chance, can excel even better than the students in national schools. I want to urge this House, this Government and this nation to relook into our education system. We must be prepared to support the education system of our children fully, whether they are from the rural areas or from wherever, so that they can get whatever education they want. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}