Kisumu County Director of Education has called for an increment of Elimu Scholarship program (ESP) slots to enable more pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to access education.
The County Director of Education (CDE) Rosemary Birenge said that out of 3429 pupils who applied for the scholarship, 1346 were shortlisted but only 288 will benefit after going through a rigorous process that involves interviewing and home visits.
The CDE who was speaking at Victoria primary school Thursday during the second day of interviews for both pupils and their guardians, said they have given priority to total orphans, single orphans, single parents, people with disabilities, and Nubians in Kisumu County who fall under marginalised group.
She noted that allocations were given to each of the eight sub-counties, with Kisumu Central, East and West being allocated 58 slots,41, and 56 slots respectively. Seme will get 28, Muhoroni 35, Nyando 20, Nyakach 36, and Kadibo 14.
She observed that this was only eight percent of the total number of needy pupils in the area and appealed for more slots to help more children access education and contribute to the development of the country.
The Kisumu Deputy County Commissioner Lang’at Bosek who is leading the Seven days vetting exercise said every shortlisted child will be assessed and most deserving cases will be selected and put under the Elimu program.
Mr. Bosek said that out of the 288 slots for the Kisumu county 159 will go to girls and 129 to boys who will successfully undergo the vetting process.
The Ministry of Education through the Equity Group Foundation has implemented the ESP cohorts 1,2,3, and 4 in 2020,2021,2022, and 2023.
Since its inception ESP has supported a total of 37,574 beneficiaries in 4 cohorts with 18,000 and 19,574 under Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project(SEQIP) and Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning Program(KPEELP) respectively.
Under the SEQIP and KPEELP, the Elimu Scholarship program aims to improve transition and retention of learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and also improve participation of girls in schools.
Cohort 4 has 10,574 beneficiaries which includes 2,754 refugees’ learners and 8000 learners from the host counties with 7,574 being implemented by Equity Group Foundation and 3,000 being implemented by Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.
The selection, interviewing and home visits for ESP is going on in all the 47 counties.
By Cyrilla Barasa
