About 14,000 needy students in Embu County have benefited from Sh81million worth of bursaries from the county government to support their education.
The funds were issued Thursday to students in secondary schools, vocational training centres, universities and special schools.
Governor Martin Wambora said the County has so far issued Sh449 million worth of bursaries to about 50,000 students in the last five years.
He said they are looking at increasing the allocation in the coming year so as to target a bigger number of needy students and institutions.
The disbursement is a reduction from 2017’s Sh171 million, with the Governor attributing the drop to the introduction of the free secondary education.
“We didn’t anticipate that students will pay as much as they are doing in schools. However, in the coming year we shall increase the allocation to target a high number of needy students,” he said.
School principals and parents said the disbursement is a major boost to student retention and school transition rates.
They said it would help institutions in their school feeding programme since parents have refused to pay any funds to schools.
Wambora at the same time announced plans to enroll 5,000 needy families to National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) so that their children in primary schools will be covered by the insurer.
He said the move would ensure pupils are covered the same way secondary school students have been enrolled in NHIF cover by the national government.
He also announced that the county will employ 200 teachers in July on permanent terms to attain adequate teaching staff in Early Childhood Development Education centres for implementation of the new curriculum. The county has already employed 483 teachers.
By Muoki Charles
Students benefit from Sh81million worth of bursaries
