Dr. James Nyikal

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 2331 to 2340 of 3161.

• 2 Dec 2015 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Chairlady. I stand to support this. CDF is a very active Fund that we are using and it attracts a lot of attention and support at the same time. Therefore, a lot of issues do come. If a Board has the capacity and function of addressing those issues, it is important. Even the issue of encouraging best practices, the 5 per cent that we have, sometimes, is not really adequate to even get some training that the committees may need and so on. I support. view
• 24 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the debate on this Bill. Let me start by appreciating the Committee that worked on the Bill to meet the requirements of the court as was made in the ruling. The fact that the CDF was unconstitutional, in fact, was a sorry situation. There is no single agency that has done as much in development as the CDF. No single agency has had tangible results in the constituencies like the CDF. Many children that were studying in mud classrooms and under trees are now in permanent ... view
• 24 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: basically security and education. Whereas those are very important functions, we must realize that there are times when even in other functions, people will be faced with emergencies and would like to approach an agency that can quickly make a decision and provide services. That is what the CDF has done. I am happy that social security has been included in the Bill, particularly when we can buy NHIF cards. When we sought to bring the National Social Health Insurance Bill, it did not work because of the large number of indigents who could not be taken care of. If ... view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to support this Bill. Education is the single-most important agent of social mobility. It is actually the only social equalizer in the society. Therefore, this Bill has come at a most appropriate time. Clause 7 of this Bill strengthens the role of sponsors in our education system. I support this and it is very important to empower them. Sponsors, particularly the religious-based sponsors, have done a very good job. However, the definition of “sponsor”, which includes the possession of land, needs to be looked at and reviewed because that ... view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Clauses 12 and 13 intend to support bright children who have done very well and cannot continue with school. This is something we need and I support. In fact, any society that does not support those needy bright children is digging its own grave. Eventually, what we need is free education. If we were to root out corruption, we would have enough money in the system to have free education, at least, up to the secondary school level. view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Clause 8 includes sponsorship for children in private schools. Whereas they are Kenyans, their parents also pay school fees. We need to look at this carefully because people will decide to take their children to private schools and then come to seek sponsorship. Maybe, there are circumstances like death of a parent and that can be considered. But if you say they can be supported to the extent to which they would have been supported in a public school, everybody will be paid for. In addition, those who are rich can now pay more so that their children can get ... view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: In Clause 3, we are providing a database for children who cannot transition. This is an extremely important and supportive provision. As was said, we need to finance it because it can be put in place and we cannot finance it. view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Clause 12 seeks to prohibit holding back of kids in school because of performance or any other reason. This is extremely important. We have had problems in this country, particularly in private schools, where teachers decide that a child is not performing and, therefore, is not moving to the next class. All children will never perform the same. Therefore, children must be allowed to move within their ability. By bringing this, we will be helping many parents. Recently, there was a case where a kid threatened to commit suicide. We should not allow that to happen. view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: Clause 16 talks to the membership of boards of schools. The reduction is okay but I do not agree that teachers will be represented in the boards by their principals. Those who have been in school know that, sometimes, teachers bring out issues that principals may not bring out. That is something that we should not accept. view
• 18 Nov 2015 in National Assembly: On curriculum, it is important that they are examined by the examining body. But I do not accept that we should allow schools to have a curriculum of their choice. The best is to have one curriculum for a country, unless there are people who intend to have their kids continue with education outside the country. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. view