77 students from humble background in Busia County are set to benefit from Equity Foundation Elimu scholarship
A total of 1028 students applied for the programme, out of whom 270 were interviewed. From the list, 43 boys and 34 girls succeeded, having been sourced from 5 sub counties out of a total of 7, namely; Matayos, Nambale, Butula, Funyula, and Bunyala.
While presiding over the colorful event at Farm view hotel, Busia Deputy County Commissioner Kipchumba Ruto applauded the selection committee for due diligence and fairness in their selection process.
“The main objective of this scholarship programme is to give wings to financially constrained students to access education in accordance with government policy of 100 per cent transition,” said Ruto.
The sponsorship aims to help students from poor and vulnerable backgrounds in urban centers and in other selected sub-counties across the country. Students who benefit under Elimu scholarship are basically from public primary schools.
Elimu scholarship programme is sponsored by the Equity Bank, Kenya government, Master Card foundation, and World Bank. This year, around 9000 students from poor backgrounds across the country will benefit from this programme.
Ruto noted that the initiative was in tandem with government policy of access of education for all, and provision of equal opportunity to every Kenyan child to transit from primary to secondary schools.
Equity Bank Busia Branch manager Masinde Oscar warned the students that they must uphold dignity and show commitment in their studies to continue enjoying their scholarship.
“We won’t hesitate to discontinue any student under our programme who engage in school unrest and doesn’t attain B grade in the school assessments,” he noted
Masinde further added that, “the scholarship programme will cater for school fees, transport to and from school, learning materials, pocket money, and school kit for the beneficiaries for the four-year education period”.
Ruto appealed to all chiefs in Busia County to commence mopping exercises to ensure all candidates who sat for KCPE exams 2021 report to their respective secondary schools.
“I am appealing to all the chiefs to make sure that KCPE graduates of the year 2021 proceed to secondary schools without fail,” he said.
Ruto urged the school principals to be innovative to accommodate all the students irrespective of their capacity. He further warned school heads against sending away students without school fees as the government is the matter.
By Joshua Opili and Yvonne Chebet
