More than 3,000 students from the Coast's counties on Saturday took part in a maths contest whose aim is to improve performance in the subject.
Top performers will get a year’s scholarship from Brookside Dairy, which is sponsoring the contest.
The best performers will also take part in a national challenge in September during which winners will secure a Sh25,000 scholarship at Strathmore University in Nairobi.
The event dubbed Brookside Mathlete is meant to encourage students to improve their performance in the subject in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.
The national maths contest was launched at Allidina Visram High School, Mombasa, on Saturday,
Brookside’s marketing manager Peter Wasonga said the processor had set aside more than Sh6 million for students from the Coast.
“We want to debunk the myth that maths is a difficult subject. We are working with the Ministry of Education to come up with student-friendly approaches that help demystify the subject,” Wasonga said.
He said the maths contests are currently ongoing in schools in Kiambu, Nakuru, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kakamega, Taita Taveta, Meru, Uasin Gishu and Machakos counties.
“We have set aside funds for school fees scholarships for the best performers,” Wasonga said.
Mustaffa Zubeida, Fatma Mohammedand Rumeiya Hassan, all of Sheikh Halifa High School, were crowned best performers.
Hosts Allidina Visram, Memon, Mama Ngina Girls and Kenyatta High School, Mwatate, also produced sterling performances.
“We ask all secondary schools in the county to take part in the competitive contests,” Wasonga said.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir commended private sector players like Brookside for coming up with programmes to improve Coast's performance in national examinations.
“I am currently consulting with the county government of Mombasa to see if we could launch a similar motivation programme for primary schools,” he said.
