Dr. Valerian Kilemi Mwiria

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 641 to 650 of 862.

• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) I am not aware that secondary school and college students from West Pokot District have dropped out of school for lack of fees as a result of drought and famine. In fact, as an example, there has been a rise in enrolment in that district between 2005 and 2006. However, this is not to say that there have not been cases of dropouts but in terms of mass exodus from schools, that has not been found to be the case. (b) The Ministry has taken the following measures, among others, to address ... view
• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I gave the example of the improved enrolment as evidence of an increase in the number of students in that district. I agree that there must have been dropout cases but, overall, it is clear that there was no case of large numbers of students dropping out. We know that there was a problem. Obviously, Kshs1.8 million was not enough. I wish we had enough resources. That was just a token to the secondary schools that benefited in that district. These were resources that could help ameliorate the situation. The idea was to come up with a ... view
• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think we should have secondary school teachers for the students who are in school. It is not the Ministry that sends away students from school. Sometimes, head teachers do so but we cannot say that we should not pay teachers because, from time to time, there is a certain number of students who are not in school. view
• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not think that it would be difficult to do because the headmasters have to run schools. There will also be cases of parents who would say that they are on relief food and, therefore, that will be an excuse. Relief food is supposed to support parents out of the difficulties. It will not resolve them. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to say that because the parents of these students are receiving relief food, therefore, we will not insist on school fees. We had better find other ways of supporting such cases rather than using ... view
• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, quite a number of schools in the arid and semi-arid areas are getting some money for boarding facilities, but that does not solve the problem completely. I think the real solution is to come up with financial resources to subsidise education there. We are doing a little bit but let us commit ourselves to looking for more resources so that we make the situation better than it is. view
• 9 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, it might not be possible to channel the money through the constituency bursary fund because this is a different grant and there is a lot of objection to the bursary money going through bursary committees. We will consider this. We will discuss the matter in a Kamukunji like we discussed the system of allocating bursary funds. view
• 8 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) I am aware that the Regional Institute of Business Management (RIBM) located at Pioneer House, Nairobi City Centre has been purporting to offer Makerere University degree 3456 programmes at the University's Nairobi Campus located at Moi Avenue, Nairobi. (b) The RIBM is not authorised to operate on behalf of or in collaboration with Makerere University. (c) The degrees offered by the RIBM are not genuine since it has not been inspected by the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) to ascertain its capacity in terms of its human capital and other resources ... view
• 8 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, at the beginning of this year, members of the public complained about this institution. They wanted to know a little bit about the quality of the programmes they have been offering. As a result, the CHE inspected the institution. In May, 2006, the CHE issued a press release warning the public against continuing to enrol students in this institution. After that, the institution went to court to ask that they be allowed to continue offering degree programmes. The court did not rule in their favour. The CHE has gone to court and is awaiting a court ... view
• 8 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, education is like a public good; it is readily available in the market. That is why we have a lot of sub-standard institutions where parents take their children for higher education. The only thing we can do as a Government is to warn the public against institutions that are not of good quality. There is also the website that is more interactive and is offering information to the public. However, there is a lot of information being given by the CHE, warning parents on these institutions. It is also up to the parents to ascertain that ... view
• 8 Nov 2006 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I agree absolutely that this is a very serious matter. We should have authority and powers to close down such institutions. Unfortunately, there are certain contradictions in our law as it is. Many of these institutions initially register with specific November 8, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3457 Ministries before they start. Upon registration it offers one or two courses. But afterwards it expands beyond its mandate. It is at that point when such institutions offer degree programmes that the Commission for Higher Education will inspect them to see if they can offer degree courses or not. It ... view