PM meets Kenyan students in Malaysia

Written By:PMPS,    Posted: Fri, Nov 16, 2012

The PM called on young Kenyans learning abroad to borrow what works from their hosts and take it home Prime Minister Raila Odinga has tied Kenya's ability to attain developed country status to its willingness to radically reform the education system. The PM said while putting money in education pays dividends, the country would benefit more and develop faster by investing in innovation, applied creativity and entrepreneurship. Addressing Kenyans in Malaysia, most of whom are students, the PM said Asian nations moved ahead by developing human capital through innovative education. The PM said a purely academic approach to education has not served Kenya well enough, adding that going forward, the country will need to invest in hands-on type of learning. Mr Odinga recalled that at independence, Kenya was ahead of Malaysia and even extended financial aid to the Asian nation in 1968, only to be left way behind close to 50 years later. Because of the development paths the two nations pursued, more Kenyans are pursuing higher education in Malaysia while hardly any Malaysian learns in Kenya's universities, the PM said. "Today, Kenya expects development assistance from Malaysia because something went very wrong with our country. I believe it is because of the system of education and the governance structures we adopted," the PM said. Mr Odinga called on young Kenyans learning abroad to borrow what works from their hosts and take it home. He said Malaysia has developed ethnic diversity better than Kenya by pursuing policies that made all communities feel involved in the running of the country. He expressed hope that Kenya's younger generation that is more exposed and better educated will actively participate in the affairs of the country and change it for the better. The PM challenged young Kenyans to think big and aim higher, saying the country is at times held back by low expectations and small dreams. "While Malaysia, with a population of about 30 million people attracted about 25 million tourists in 2011, Kenyans will easily be happy and will praise themselves for attracting one million tourists while our population stands at 40 million. We need to aim higher. We need to put more money in marketing our country and our attractions. In tourism, we certainly have more to offer than Malaysia. But we are holding ourselves back," the PM said. Mr Odinga is set to receive an honorary Doctorate from Limkokwing University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.