Elimu Ni Sasa, a bursary programme started 10 years ago by former Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya has helped thousands of students from remote villages.
The Kwale region, which has for many years lagged behind in education, is now producing professionals and top students at the coast.
In the just-released 2023 KCSE exam results, Kwale High, a national school, ranked Number 3 in the coastal region. Many students who scored good grades have benefitted from the county bursary programme.
It’s a milestone since, before devolution, Kwale county had been grappling with a soaring number of teen pregnancies, early marriages, and school dropouts. The poverty index was high.
However, with the Elimu Ni Sasa initiative, the trend has been reversed, and many children have been able to access quality education and achieve their dreams. Governor Fatuma Achani has continued with the programme and raised the county bursary kitty from Sh400 million to Sh500 million. And she plans to increase it yearly.
The programme ensures students get bursaries and full-time education scholarships.
According to Kwale County Director of Communication, Nicky Gitonga, an average of 16,805 secondary students get bursaries every year. Another 6,477 college and university students also benefit.
This fiscal year, the county has already paid the full tuition for 4,560 secondary school students in Forms 1 through 4.
The programme has empowered many children and beneficiaries working with the county.
Badru Mohammed Shikeli, chief officer of water services, was recently employed by Achani’s administration after graduating with a bachelor's degree in science, water resources, and management from Embu University.
“I am a beneficiary of the Elimu Ni Sasa programme, and the county paid for my school fees from Form 1 one to university,” he said.
He sat for his KCSE exam in 2015 at Kwale High School in Matuga subcounty, and in 2016 he joined the university.
He won the chief officer position after competing with other applicants.
Shikeli said if it weren't for the bursary support, he wouldn’t have made it that far. He said the programme lifted him from despair to success.
He said then that finding school fees was hectic, but luckily the bursary programme came as a blessing.
The chief officer said he is grateful for the county support, adding that the programme saved him from dropping out of school.
Bakari Nyondo, from the Puma ward in the Kinango subcounty, is also a beneficiary of the bursary initiative.
Last year, he sat for his KCSE exams at Kwale High and scored an A of 81 points.
He has yet to join the university and fulfil his dream, still under the county government's sponsorship.
Nyondo said the scholarship helped him a lot in his four-year journey in education. Coming from a poor background, his education was not guaranteed.
He said things would have been different if the county hadn’t sponsored his education.
“Today I am celebrating because the county supported my education; otherwise, the results would have been the other way around,” he said.
Nyondo said he fears that he would have scored poor grades or even failed to finish high school without the bursary.
The young man said the bursary extended a lifeline to not just his dreams but to the thousands of children in the county.
Nyondo said he was able to properly concentrate on his studies because school fees were already paid, unlike those of some friends.
The student several friends dropped out of school because their parents couldn’t afford to educate them.
Nyondo said he is thankful that he was never sent home due to unpaid fees and he will forever be grateful.
Khalfa Ngana, who scored an A- (minus) from Kwale High, said the county paid for his education each year without fail.
He said it was through the bursary programme that he managed to get good grades.
Ngana said life at home wasn’t rosy, and the bursary initiative uplifted his life.
“I salute the bursary programme; I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn't for that lift,” he said.
Ngana wants to pursue medicine at the University of Nairobi and become a surgeon.
Hussein Hamis Mwanzani will this week join Form 1 at Dr Agrey High School, thanks to the county scholarship.
He is among the 923 Form 1 students joining national schools under county government sponsorship this year.
He scored 381 marks in the 2023 KCPE exams at St Muntas Integrated Academy and won a full county bursary scholarship.
He promised to take advantage of the programme and work hard to realise his dreams. He aspires to be a pilot.
According to his parents, Hamisi Ali Makoti, they were stranded and didn’t have money to take their son to school early.
Makoti said the sponsorship is a relief to many families living in poverty.
“We thank God the county took on the responsibility of paying school fees. At least we can now breathe freely,” he said.
Makoti said the support will enable them to concentrate on other things, like buying school uniforms and shopping.
He praised the county for the bursary initiative, adding that investing in education is the right thing to do because it will result in empowered future leaders.
While launching the bursary programme for the Form 1 national school students for this year, Achani said her administration is committed to improving the bursary kitty so that many more children can benefit from it.
She told parents to adopt the bursary initiative and give the county much-needed support to keep the programme running.
“The county will pay school fees, and you also take part by buying uniforms and ensuring children produce good grades,” she said.
Achani said the county spends millions of shillings on the bursary programme and it would only be right if students strive to get good academic results for accountability.
She urged the students not to let the county down and to concentrate on their studies to change the status of their families and improve their lives.
Achani said for this financial year, the county has so far spent more than Sh147 million on national school students alone.
She said more money would be used for the remaining thousands of students who are in day schools, universities and colleges. They will start receiving bursaries next week.
