Kiambu County National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) has disbursed bursaries of over Sh 7 million to over 1,000 students.
Beneficiaries from secondary schools received Sh 8,000 each while University and TVETs beneficiaries received Sh10,000 each from Sh 7,619,618.
Speaking to KNA over the weekend at her office, Kiambu Women Representative Anne Wamuratha said Kenyans are struggling to raise money to pay for school fees due to the high cost of living with many resorting to apply for bursary funds.
“It is not the wish of Kenyans to come and look for bursaries, it is the high cost of living that has pushed them,” she observed.
Wamuratha called upon the government to utilize collected tax prudently to fund free education among other developments and services to ease the burden on parents paying fees.
“Those who are in charge of collecting taxes should prioritize funding education and health care. We do not want to be charged when we go to hospitals, the collected taxes should fund those services,” Wamuratha said.
Riabai Member of County Assembly (MCA) Hezron Gachui said as County Assembly representatives they will legislate to expedite availability of bursary funds so that needy cases are addressed especially those joining form one.
“Kenyans are struggling and leaders should unite and find solutions to ease the school fee burden and ensure the needy and vulnerable cases are addressed first,” said Gachui.
Gachui noted that the county government has set aside Sh.100 million for bursaries that will be disbursed next week and urged Governor Kimani Wamatangi to also set aside a kitty for form one admission to ease the burden of those who are unable to raise funds to enroll their children to form one.
Jared Komu a beneficiary of the bursary thanked NGAAF but asked government to reconsider and implement free education as there are some families who cannot manage to raise any amount for fees.
“The government should consider free education so that all children can attend school without the pressure of paying school fees,” Komu said.
Stacy Njiraini another beneficiary pointed out that families have different capabilities with some being able to top up the NGAAF bursary allocation while others cannot and urged the bursary administrators to consider the very needy cases for full sponsorship.
The high cost of living, she said, has affected many families who opt to have food on the table and consider their children’s education as a last option, leading to high incidences of school dropout.
By Wangari Ndirangu
