Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Brian Otieno
23 June 2011
The Parliamentary Committee on Education has called on the KACC and CID to move with speed in tackling corruption in the education sector. Chairman David Koech said delays in investigation and prosecution of suspects will lead to prosecution of innocent people. “If the KACC and CID do not act fast, the civil society will come in and sweep even the innocent ones,” said Koech.
The MP said Kenya is fast losing the confidence of the donor community, which supports many education projects in the country, due to corruption.
Speaking at the ongoing secondary school heads conference in Mombasa, Koech said Kenya has a lot of resources in the education sector but corruption has slowed down education projects. The Mosop MP also criticised the government for the late release of money to schools saying such moves compound the problems in the education sector. “Money for education cannot be delayed even for a single day. I’m happy the money was disbursed promptly in January but thereafter, there have been the usual delays,” said Koech.
He said Parliament will pass a motion to compel the government to source for more funds to double the amount set aside for education as the country’s inflation rate threatens to go out of hand. “This is to ensure that we do not compromise on the education quality of the country,” said Koech.
He faulted the Education ministry for issuing contradicting statements as regards the national schools. He said it is wrong to upgrade a school to national status only to reverse the move later. “Proper research has to be done before making decisive statements, which must only be given after proper consultations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo has called for the review of the education curriculum to ensure provisions in the new constitution are catered for and address tribalism.
Mutula said tribalism remains a big challenge in the country and urged teachers and other education stakeholders to inculcate values in children that will see them shun the vice. “Policies and values in the education sector must be changed to address the problem of tribalism especially in schools,” said Mutula in a statement read on his behalf by his assistant William Cheptum at the conference in Mombasa yesterday. The minister said the budgetary allocation for the education sector in the country is far below the expectation.
He said fundamental rights of children are not being fulfilled and that more fund should be allocated to address the poor teacher-student ratio. “As part of the reforms in the education sector, we must teach subjects that will change the perception of children regarding our different cultures and traditions,” he said.
He said politicians, teachers and students must join hands to fight discrimination of children based on their religion, gender and physical attributes. “Persons with disabilities must be given equal opportunities in education just like any other student. It would be unfortunate for us to talk about fairness for all when we are unfair to some,” said Mutula.
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