• County government gives Sh20,000 to about 1,000 students in boarding schools.
• Students who fail but indicate consistent improvementwill be exempted from the cut-off.
Image: Alice Waithera
Display a good performance trail to avoid being cut off from the county scholarship programme, Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria has told students.
Wa Iria on Monday said the programme will prioritise students who achieve grade C+ and above.
The programme, started early this year, gives Sh20,000 per term to 1,000 needy but bright students with the aim of ensuring they are sustained in their schools of choice.
Wa Iria said beneficiaries who won’t improve in their academics will receive the necessary assistance to help boost their performance but consistent failure will not be condoned.
Students who fail but indicate some consistent improvement will, however, be exempted from the cut-off.
“Good performance is the only way to ensure that we get value for the resources we are committing towards the scholarship programme,” the governor said.
Speaking while issuing cheques to the students and their parents at Ihura Stadium, Wa Iria said their performance will be reviewed termly and poor performers struck off at the end of the year.
Indisciplined students will also not be supported through and parents will be notified when they are dropped from the scholarship, he added.
“Those left out of the programme will benefit from the technical training that we offer through polytechnics. No student has an excuse not to learn,” he said.
The governor said beneficiaries will be supported all through their secondary education through the scheme, with each of the 35 wards getting about 30 beneficiaries.
He decided to be personally involved in the disbursement of the cheques to ensure all shortlisted candidates receive their termly fees without any hiccup, he said.
“But they have to know that they are being supported through taxpayers' money and have to repay with good grades and discipline."
The students were put through a rigorous vetting process conducted by primary schools headteachers, boards of management and the church in December last year.
Each primary school provided two beneficiaries from disadvantaged backgrounds who had received admission letters to boarding schools.
MCAs agreed to keep off the vetting process to ensure it not politicised, he said, adding that a batch of beneficiaries will be picked every year.
“We started this programme after realising that many parents were transferring their children from extra county schools to day schools due to lack of fees,” Wa Iria said, pledging to ensure all bright students joined their schools of admission.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)