Some 1,000 beneficiaries of the Wings to Fly scholarship programme were on Friday commissioned to begin their studies in various secondary schools.
The scholarship is awarded annually to bright KCPE students from poor backgrounds who score 350 marks and above. The 2019 cohort brings to 16,168 the number of beneficiaries since the launch of the programme in 2010. It is sponsored by Equity Bank and Mastercard Foundation.
Speaking during the commissioning at Kenyatta University, Education CS Amina Mohamed asked the students to make the best of the opportunity of the scholarship and help those in similar circumstances in future.
“Please don’t be complacent. Do your best and aim to conquer and scale the heights to great success,” Amina said. “Every generation owes a debt to the next. We are paying our debt now, you will have to pay your debt in a few years to come.”
Since inception, some 10,084 students have cleared secondary education. Some 8,062 have since joined universities while 2,022 are in TVET colleges. Other than education, beneficiaries are mentored in leadership.
Equity Group CEO James Mwangi said there has been a 100 per cent transition from school to work for all the beneficiaries.
“We can talk of complete transition as all of them are employed. Those who miss opportunities elsewhere come back to Equity,” Mwangi said.
Maxwell Omondi from Muhoroni said he aspires to become lawyer after his secondary education. He scored 385 marks and was selected to join Kisumu Boys High school.
“I promise to turn page after page until I become a lawyer. Not just a lawyer who knows of nolle prosequi, pro bono, or even amicus curiae but a lawyer who is not corrupt,” Omondi said.
Augustine Barasa from Busia scored 404 marks and will join Kapsabet Boys High School. “I will work hard until I become a neurosurgeon. I know it’s possible,” Barasa said.
Sarah Pilot, a girl who was abandoned in a sewer in Kibera as a toddler wants to live up to the name she was given by her rescuers at Bridge of Hope Educational Centre. She scored 376 marks and is set to join Alliance Girls High School. “I must rewrite my history for I must come out like the Biblical Moses. I will establish a children’s home of my own for I have wings to fly,” Pilot said.