Poor students set for flying start to secondary education
President Uhuru Kenyatta awards Wings to Fly scholarship to Kennedy Mundia on January 16, 2015 during official commissioning of the Equity Foundation, MasterCard foundation and USAID, UKaid, kfw 2000 'wings to Fly' Scholars for the 2015 intake. Wings to Fly scholarship has awarded 10,377 scholarship to needy students for the past five years. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mercy Rotich from Elgeyo Marakwet County also faced a similar situation in 2013 when she scored 347 marks and opted to repeat to get the scholarship.
- President Uhuru Kenyatta was the chief guest at the event held at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani, in Nairobi, also attended by Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, governors, MPs and other government officials and diplomats.
- Mr James Mwangi, Equity Bank’s CEO, said over 20,000 learners had applied for the scholarship this year but only a small portion could be assisted.
When Brian Kabule did his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination in 2013, and scored 358 marks out of a possible 500 marks, there was little to celebrate for this teenager from a poor family.
And although he got admission to a secondary school, he could not raise the fees and so he opted to repeat the class.
His hope was that he would score better marks and increase his chances of getting a scholarship offered by Equity Bank.
The youngster from Bungoma scored 400 marks in last year’s KCPE exam and secured a full secondary school scholarship from the bank.
Brian was among 2,000 needy learners who were on Friday officially awarded the ‘Wings To Fly’ Form One scholarships, an initiative of Equity Group Foundation and MasterCard Foundation in conjunction with the US, British and German governments.
LOOKING FORWARD
“My father passed on in 2007 and even after I sat the KCPE exam in 2013, I could not get school fees in order to join Form One. But now, I am looking forward to fulfilling my dreams because of this scholarship,” said Brian, his face glowing with joy.
Mercy Rotich from Elgeyo Marakwet County also faced a similar situation in 2013 when she scored 347 marks and opted to repeat to get the scholarship.
She scored 382 marks in last year’s KCPE and now has a chance to go through secondary school and beyond without the worry of being sent home for school fees.
Through this annual scholarships award, the beneficiaries will have their fees paid in full, besides other forms of support such as pocket money.
The initiative is aimed at offering comprehensive secondary school scholarships to top performing but extremely needy students from all the 47 counties.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was the chief guest at the event held at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani, in Nairobi, also attended by Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, governors, MPs and other government officials and diplomats.
10,377 BENEFITED
The programme, which is now in its fifth year, has so far benefited 10,377 learners some of whom have been able to join prestigious international universities.
Mr James Mwangi, Equity Bank’s CEO, said over 20,000 learners had applied for the scholarship this year but only a small portion could be assisted.
“I want to appeal to every Kenyan of goodwill to sponsor those who did not get a chance under the ‘Wings To Fly’ programme.
“The circumstances of their parents should not be the circumstances of these kids,” he said while hailing the support of the partners.
He asked President Kenyatta to fast track the provision of free secondary school education so as to ensure every learner got access to basic education.
President Kenyatta said the government was putting in place measures to improve education standards in the country including working towards provision of free secondary education.
He said primary school enrolment had hit the 9 million mark following the introduction of free primary education, while that of the subsidised secondary education currently stands at 2 million.
