Laura Wambi Arina
The next step after the announcement of the KCPE results naturally, is to move on to seek secondary education. It seems to be quite the obvious thing really, it almost goes without saying. However the sad reality is that there are thousands of students that do not get to go to high school because there is no money. My regular boda boda guy is one of these unfortunate ones. His folk had to decide between catering for their diabetic father and taking him to high school, 354 marks on. The former was adopted; consequently he has never set foot in a classroom again. His command of the Queen’s language nonetheless, is enviable.
KCB has set out to come to the aid of needy and bright students by investing a total of Kshs 100 million in 2016 as scholarships. 240 pupils will be sponsored by the bank throughout their secondary education. The scholarship covers tuition fees, school uniforms, learning materials and mentorship activities. How cool is that! Already, over 800 students are currently under the lender’s support in secondary schools. The next group of awardees will have 40 positions reserved for pupils with disabilities.
Requirements for eligibility are as follows;
- Student must meet the cut-off mark set for his/her county (Cut off points have been adjusted for each county to reflect the actual performance in the county.)
- They must come from a needy background
- Qualified for admission to either a public national or county secondary school.
- Must be from a public primary school.
Once all these requirements are met, interested applicants can find scholarship application forms in all KCB branches across the country. They should attach their KCPE results slip and letter of admission in order for their application to be valid. The completed application form should then be presented during the interview sessions to be conducted in the third week of January across all counties.
This is a great programme seeing as research shows that Kenya has one of the most expensive secondary education systems in Africa, with fees for national and county schools presently ranging from Kshs 45,000 to Kshs 136,000 per academic year, which is not affordable to many Kenyan parents, in an economy that entails ever rising standards of living and salaries that remain constant even after tonnes and tonnes of strikes.
KCB Foundation Director Jane Mwangi says, “Our focus is to tap, nurture and support these pupils with an eye at building the next pool of top skills that will drive economic expansion in Kenya and beyond. We are committed to extend our financial support to these students and ensure they stay in school throughout the four year period.
The KCB Foundation Scholarship programme is in line with Kenya’s long term development plan to reduce illiteracy by increasing access to education, improving the transition rate from primary to secondary school and raising the quality and relevance of Kenya’s education.
Now, if only there were less social media feuds between competing companies and more programmes like these, wouldn’t the world be a way better place?
