• Ward reps attribute poverty levels to poor education standards.
• Wards have received Sh5 million out of which Sh1.6 million will pay first term fees for students in full scholarships, the rest for basic bursary of Sh5,000 per learner.
Kilifi MCAs want the Sh350 million bursary allocation doubled to enable them to allocate sufficient funds for education.
Currently, each of the 35 wards normally gets Sh10 million which they say is not enough to meet the needs of education financing.
The county has low education standards due to high poverty levels which have contributed to increased drop out rates, they say.
Kakuyuni MCA Nixon Muramba said so far, the amount allocated has made an impact in his ward since he introduced full scholarships for poor students from high school to university.
Speaking during a meeting with beneficiaries and professionals from his ward at Goshi social hall, Mramba said if the money is increased to at least Sh15 million, it will have a great impact.
"Today we are holding talks with students with their parents, we started this programme of giving full scholarships after realising that there were many bright students who excel and drop out midway," he said.
This year, the ward rep said, they have received an allocation of Sh5 million out of which Sh1.6 million will pay first term fees for students in full scholarships.
The remaining Sh3.4 million will be allocated to general bursaries where students would get a minimum of Sh5,000 to support them, he said.
Mramba said if the funds are increased, more students will benefit in the full scholarship.
"If the funds are not well utilised, there will be nothing to show at the end of the five-year term."
He said they chose boys with 350 marks and girls with 340 marks in KCPE for scholarships up to university "and it has proved successful".
The condition for one to be retained in the programme is to score a minimum of grade B at every end term exam.
So far, he said, 75 are under full scholarship from Form 1 to 4 while 11 are joining the university and four others are already enrolled.
Magarini MCA Elina Mbaru said she has been forced to raise funds for bright students as the Sh5 million did not have any impact.
She spoke during a fundraising at Kagombani on Saturday saying the funds allocated by the county were not enough.
''I already disbursed the funds for bursary now I have been forced to spend my own money in this fundraising so as to help educate the poor children," she said.
The MCAs called on Governor Amason Kingi to increase the allocation to the sector.
In Kakuyuni, some of the beneficiaries of the scholarship said the move had enabled them to access education.
Rehema Garama Mwaringa from the ward is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Education at Garissa University and has expressed gratitude to have got support from the MCAs Scholarship funds.
Edited by R.Wamochie