Bright but needy students get scholarships

Elimu Scholarship has this year come to the rescue of hundreds of poor students especially those from the city’s informal settlements.

The program aims to transform the lives of students and their families as well as drive change in access to education for thousands of needy students.

Among the beneficiaries were last year’s students of Bridge International School, a learning centre in the heart of the sprawling Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums in Nairobi’s Embakasi area.

The 2021 KCPE top performers from Bridge are now enrolled in national secondary schools, thanks to the initiative.

The top-performing boy, Edwin Oduor from the Majengo Mapya community in Likoni is now studying at Starehe Boys’ Centre and School on a scholarship funded by the institution. Oduor scored 402 marks.

The top-performing Bridge girls received scholarships to enrol in their dream secondary schools. Joyce Kemunto and Florence Kwamboka, both from the Mukuru community scored 401 marks and were selected to join Alliance Girls High School and Nyabururu Girls High School respectively.

Elimu scholarship is an initiative funded by the World Bank and the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education that seeks to improve secondary education.

The scholarship caters for school fees, transport, learning materials and the four-year secondary education period.

The Elimu scholarship programme is implemented in partnership with the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education.

The scholarships target academically talented students who excel in their KCPE exams and who are faced with financial constraints that would hamper their progress to secondary school.

Chrispo Morara is a Bridge graduate from Tassia Community. He sat for the KCPE exams in 2020, emerging as the top candidate with a score of 413 marks.

Morara is now pursuing his secondary education at Alliance High School, thanks to the Elimu scholarship programme.

“I am attending high school under the Elimu scholarship programme. If it were not for them, I really have no idea how I would have managed to finance my secondary school education,” says Morara.

Another scholarship program - The education for All Children scholarship – is also trying to keep bright but needy students in schools, especially in the slum area.

Several Bridge graduates are beneficiaries of the Education for All Children Scholarship.

The program targets girls and boys who live in extreme poverty and hail from urban and rural communities across Kenya.

Precious Kahelu, a Bridge graduate from Garsen in Kilifi County sat for the KCPE in 2020, scoring 379 marks.

She was considered for the program to pursue her secondary education at Mama Ngina Girls, a girls’ national school.