University students and their colleagues in colleges and secondary school in Juja, Kiambu county, are to receive Sh48 million in bursaries from their NG-CDF ahead of schools' reopening.
MP George Koimburi said they are pushing to have the NG-CDF kitty released by the National Treasury to constituencies before the schools reopen on January 23, so they can expedite issuance of bursaries to needy students.
The MP said that most parents are at crossroads on how to facilitate their children’s education once the schools reopen given the current harsh economic times. He said parents are eagerly waiting for the return of bursaries, which will be a huge reprieve to them.
Koimburi spoke at Matangi area in Theta ward during a public participation meeting to collect residents’ views on the programmes and projects they want implemented by the NG-CDF before the 2022-2023 financial year ends.
“We are glad that the government has agreed to release the funds to the constituencies. We are however appealing to the National Treasury to expedite the funds' release. Then we can fast track issuance of bursaries to our deserving students before the schools reopen,” Koimburi said.
The MP said the funds will aid parents in addressing the burden that awaits them of hiked fees for the next academic year. School fees have been reverted as they were before Covid-19 after scrapping of the subsidy that was offsetting up to Sh8,500 for every student.
Parents with their children at national schools and extra-county schools are expected to pay Sh 53,554, which is an increment above the current Sh45,000. Children in county as well as subcounty boarding secondary schools are expected to pay Sh 40,535, an increase from Sh 35,000.
“We are targeting to disburse the funds to more than 6,000 beneficiaries and all will be from Juja constituency. We are working closely with the provincial administration including the chiefs to ensure that only deserving Juja residents benefit,” he said.
He said that his office has already laid down proper procedures to ensure all needy and deserving students from the constituency benefit. He maintained that all beneficiaries must show proof that they are residents and voters in the constituency.
“We will not allow the money to benefit residents from other regions and deny our people this noble opportunity. Everyone should apply for the bursary funds from their respective constituencies,” Koimburi noted.
At the same time, the MP divulged that out of the 846 newly recruited teachers who are set to be posted in Kiambu county by the Teachers Service Commission , 111 teachers will be posted in schools within Juja constituency.
He said the move will address the shortage of teachers in most schools within the area and relieve parents of the burden of employing and paying teachers.
“This comes as a relief to parents who have been digging deeper into their pockets to pay teachers. We are also upbeat that academic performance will tremendously improve in our region,” the lawmaker said.
Parents who spoke to the press welcomed the decision by the Juja NG-CDF committee to allocate bursaries the lion's share of the budget. hey said it will go a long way in aiding them facilitate their children’s education.
“The current economic situation is harsh where most of us are even hardly putting food on the table for our families. We are glad to receive bursary funds that will play a significant role in keeping our children in school,”resident Rosemary Nyamburasi said.
The parents also echoed the MP’s sentiments urging the government to expedite release of the NG-CDF funds before the schools reopens.
“The NG-CDF kitty plays a major role in the education of our children. Furthermore it enhances growth of the grassroots through initiation of projects that directly benefits us in the villages. We also plead with the government to fasttrack the release of the money. We direly need it,” said resident Stephen Kabuba.
(Edited by V. Graham)
