A total of 115 needy students from Naivasha and Gilgil sub-counties have benefited from the Elimu Scholarship courtesy of the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JFK).
Speaking during the flagging off of this year’s cohort on Wednesday, Naivasha Constituency Member of Parliament Jayne Kihara noted that the four-year scholarship will go a long way in lessening the burden on poor parents who are experiencing hard economic times.
The MP added that the Elimu scholarship has come as a relief amid the delay in the release of the National Government-Constituency Development (NG-CDF) bursary kitty by the national Government which is expected to be disbursed before the end of this week as the school calendar resumes.
Kihara noted that the Naivasha area has four slums that house very vulnerable and needy families and such bursaries coming at this time will see the bright needy student pursue their secondary education without any apprehensions on the part of the parents and guardians.
The MP noted that they were carrying out vetting which will see needier students accommodated in the NG-CDF bursary kitty as soon as the Government releases the funds.
There has been anxiety among Members of the Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the political divide who are patrons of the kitty in their respective constituencies over the delay by the Treasury in disbursement of the money.
Naivasha Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Mr. Kisilu Mutua on his part lauded the Community Selection and Advisory Committee (CSAC) for the good work they did saying the neediest cases were given priority from a list of over 1,500 applicants.
This year`s beneficiaries are drawn from pupils who sat for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination (KCPE) in November 2023 and obtained an aggregate of over 280 marks out of a possible 500 and the beneficiaries were selected through a vigorous process which includes personal interviews and home visits.
The intended beneficiaries must be from needy, vulnerable families and having poor parents living with disabilities or chronic illnesses such as HIV/ AIDS that have compromised their ability to meet the financial obligations of their children.
Students who have been neglected and abused can also benefit from this program. The applicants must also be orphans, vulnerable students with special needs, or students with disabilities from public primary schools.
The scholarship is comprehensive and caters for School fees, transport to and from school, learning materials, and School kits for the beneficiaries for the four-year education period.
The Ministry of Education through The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) and Equity Group Foundation, popularly known as Wings to Fly are working together to award more Secondary School Scholarships in all 47 Counties to needy and vulnerable learners who attained 280 marks and above in the 2023 KCPE Examination
To enhance access to secondary school education for all Kenyans, the government has tripled the number of Elimu Scholarships this year from 3,000 last year to 9,000 to ensure a 100 percent transition to Secondary School.
By Mabel Keya– Shikuku
