Governor Wisley Rotich has signed education deals with three colleges in Canada to offer partial scholarships to students from Elgeyo Marakwet.
He signed the deals under his PEPEA student programme, which he had promised to implement to give local youth opportunities to study and work abroad.
Rotich has been in Canada on an official tour seeking partnerships with various institutions to back up education programmes in the county.
The governor said he had secured education sponsorship in North Island, Vancouver, Northern Lights College in British Columbia and Thompson Rivers University to have students from Elgeyo Marakwet study in Canada.
"I'm glad we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the three institutions. Successful candidates will also have an opportunity to work in Canada. This was one of my promises to the people of Elgeyo Marakwet during my campaign and I'm happy my PEPEA (airlift) programme is picking up," Rotich said.
He said he had successfully negotiated for affordable school fees and the ability for students to work in Canada.
"I have managed to secure a favourable deal. Our students can afford to pay for what we have agreed. It's a good deal," Rotich said.
He urged youth to seize the opportunity by applying for passports and growing cash crops to raise fees.
“Education is key to the development of our county and we must use all opportunities available to ensure our youth enjoy benefits of good education so they can also give back to society,” he said.
The county boss said he was keen to improve education in the county, starting with the ECD level.
“We will look at education in our primary and secondary schools, tertiary colleges and even university opportunities for our youth”, he said.
Elgeyo Marakwet residents welcomed the move and urged the governor to explore more affordable learning opportunities abroad.
"We appreciate the great efforts by our governor to open up education opportunities for our youth. We ask him to explore more learning opportunities abroad," resident Allan Kosgei said.
The governor said he has already made contact with several other institutions in the US and urged youth who get the opportunity to study abroad to be good ambassadors for the country.
“They must maintain good discipline so that we are able to sustain good relations with the colleges,” Rotich said.
