At least 260 students from vulnerable families in Kisii County have been sponsored by the Elimu Scholarship Programme to further their secondary education.
The Scholarship that is administered by the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) will this year cater for the learners’ school fees, transport to and from school, school kit and a stipend.
Speaking after flagging-off the students in Kisii town, Kisii County Commissioner (CC), Tom Anjere, lauded the support from the government through JKF, saying it will ensure the students complete secondary school education with ease.
Anjere called upon the parents and National Government Administration Officers to ensure that all candidates who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) last year transition to secondary school.
“We want to ensure that Chiefs and their Assistants do a mop-up with the view of ensuring 100 percent transition,” he said.
The CC encouraged the needy families that did not benefit from the JKF scholarship to take advantage of other sponsorship programmes in the County administered by the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), non-state actors, banks and the county government.
Anjere also called for close collaboration among the education stakeholders, including the political and religious leaders, to aid in achieving the 100 percent transition.
Further, the County Commissioner encouraged the students who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), to utilize the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and Polytechnics for further studies.
Anjere said the local administration and security agencies, are working with the schools to guard against drug peddling in learning institutions and provide a conducive learning environment for the learners.
The Elimu Scholarship Nyanza Region Coordinator, Philip Ochoi, expressed his gratitude to the Global Partnership for Education and the World Bank for continuously funding the scholarship programme.
He encouraged the selected students to work diligently and show respect to the teachers and parents to maintain good grades in school.
Ochoi said the JKF scholarship, attracted over 4,000 applicants in Kisii and they will provide mentorship sessions to the successful students in the programme.
The Coordinator added they are committed to supporting and educating the learners to contribute to the government’s agenda of providing access to quality education for every learner.
Josephine Moraa, a parent of one of the beneficiaries, lauded the government for supporting their children, saying that most of them would not have managed to educate the learners.
She said they would support the students to register exemplary performance, throughout their secondary education and encouraged JKF to continue uplifting other vulnerable learners in the county.
By Mercy Osongo
