1,600 Tana River County students studying in various educational institutions in the country have received scholarships amounting to Sh.13.3 million.
Photo by Emmanuel Masha
Tana River Governor, Dhadho Godhana distributed cheques to the benefiting schools in a brief ceremony held at the Mau Mau Secondary School in Hola Town on Thursday.
He handed over the cheques to Feisal Obo on behalf of the County Director of Education, Gitonga Mbaka, who will ensure they reach the respective schools.
He said Sh.8 million had been allocated for students studying in 377 secondary schools outside the county, while Sh.5.3 million would go to universities and colleges.
He said the amount was part of the Sh.76.5 million ‘Push Up Scholarship Fund” he created early 2018 to enable students from the county to access secondary and higher education after hundreds of students failed to take up their Form One positions.
In the programme, 5,639 students studying within the county have so far received a total of Sh24.7 million, while 1,465 students studying outside the county got a total of Sh.7.2 million.
512 students in middle-level colleges got Sh.2.5 million, while 672 university students, shared Sh.3.4 million. Another Sh880, 000 will be shared among 176 pupils in special schools.
Those studying in the County received their share early 2017 and Thursday’s cheques were to benefit schools outside the county, as well as colleges and universities.
During the function, the governor asked school heads not to send away students and also ensure that students who were at home due to lack of fees returned to the institutions.
“If the school has any problem, let them bring them to us because we have a County Executive Committee (CEC) Member, whose work is to look for money for schools among other duties,” he said.
He said the culture of sending away students for fees had deprived the county of skilled personnel, since most parents were poor.
The governor was flanked by CEC members Abass Kunyo (education, Vocational Training and Sports) and Mwanajuma Hiribae (Health) among others.
By Emmanuel Masha
