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{
    "id": 95145,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/95145/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kaino",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 32,
        "legal_name": "Boaz Kipchumba Kaino",
        "slug": "boaz-kaino"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. I would like to thank my brother, who has thought it good to bring this Motion to the House. Parallel degree programme students and private university students are not different. The imbalance we are seeing today is a cancer which can be traced back to not only the universities or secondary schools, but also to primary schools. This is an issue which this country must take very seriously, because, if things go the way they are going today, they are going to clearly mark a line between the rich and the poor. Why do I say so? I say so because, rich people take their children to the best pre- primary and primary school academies. You will then find students from those academies in the best secondary schools like Nairobi School, Lenana High School, Starehe Boys Centre, Alliance High School, Mangu High School, and other very reputable schools in this country. You find that the children of the rich occupy all those secondary schools, because of the background of their upbringing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this tells us that we must equip our primary schools. We must also take charge of the pre-primary school education. The Ministry of Education must ensure that as children grow, they compete on an equal play footing, so that they can go to the same secondary schools. If we leave things the way they are today, the rich will always take their children to the best schools, and the children of the poor will suffer and remain down. At the end of the day, you will find that the best courses – medicine, engineering and law – are taken by children of the rich. That will be marking the difference between the children of the poor and those of the rich, right from the different primary schools they go to, the different secondary schools they attend, where the children of the rich take places in the best schools, to the university, where the children of the rich take up all the places in the very important disciplines, leaving the children of the poor to join the unmarketable courses. They take courses in areas where unemployment is very high. What do you find? You find that children of the poor tarmack on the streets for a long time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a very serious issue. The HELB is a product of the Ministry of Education. I must congratulate the Ministry for coming up with the HELB programme. It has worked well. It is an example in Africa. African countries like Uganda, Tanzania and others are introducing a similar programme. So, it is something we must be very proud of. The only thing here is: Why do they not see the children of the poor? This programme is supposed to be directed to the children of the poor, so that those children can get more chances. The University of Nairobi, and Egerton University, charge privately sponsored students Kshs100,000 per semester. Children of the rich from Mangu High School or from Alliance High School who do not qualify for university are now joining university through other programmes, and they are able to pay. It is very difficult for a child from a poor family to pay that kind of fees."
}