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Scholarships uplifting education standards in poverty-stricken Kilifi

The Centum-led scholarship programme targets 50 needy students who excel in KCPE each year.

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by The Star

News03 February 2023 - 18:00
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In Summary


  • Grayson Mwavita from Kadzinuni Thanked centum for sponsoring his education for four years schooled in Kenyatta High School in Mwatate.
  • Mwavita said he was happy for the scholarship because had it not been for the support he would have dropped out.
Centum board member Catherine Muturi issues cheques to needy students who are beneficiaries of the Vipingo scholarship programme in Vipingo ridge, Kilifi county.

Education standards in the coastal region are seemingly in an upward trend going by various state and non-state interventions. 

The interventions involve providing opportunities to bright needy students from poverty-stricken families who could not afford the costs of education. 

In Kilifi a programme launched by Centum Investments through its corporate social responsibility arm, Vipingo Development Limited scholarship, funded four in 2016, targeting poor students. A number of the students are now in different universities.

This year there is the third lot of students to complete secondary school, and are also set to join universities.

The scholarship programme targets 50 needy students who excel in KCPE each year. 

Testimonials of the beneficiaries has showed that the opportunities are set to transform lives as they do not take the scholarship for granted since their backgrounds are poor. 

Grayson Mwavita from Kadzinuni Thanked centum for sponsoring his education for four years schooled in Kenyatta High School in Mwatate.

Mwavita said he was happy for the scholarship because had it not been for the support he would have dropped out.

“I urge new students benefiting to ensure they work hard in school so as to fulfil their dreams,” he said.

Priscah Mbodze from Kadzinuni village in Kilifi county, a beneficiary of the scholarship said she schooled at Karima Girls High School in Nyandarua, where she scored a B plus. 

She thanked Vipingo scholarship fund for the support they gave her for the four years in high school as it could not have been easy for her to reach that far on education considering she is an orphan.

“I was raised by my grand mother who is now very old and had no means of paying my school fees, so if it was not for Vipingo I could have dropped out from school and most probably my life could be in a mess,” she said.

Mbodze said the scholarship has made her to realise her dreams as she now is confident of pursuing her dream career of becoming a doctor.

“In a few years to come I want to be called doctor Priscah,” she said.

Mbodze said she comes from an area where most of the parents are hustlers and really struggle to ends meet which force many youths to be hooked to drugs or engage on sex and end up pregnant at a teen age.

She urged her fellow beneficiaries who were joining the scholarship program to work extra hard with focus and mind as the future was bright through education.

“We need doctors in our communities, we need engineers and others who are going to change this society to be a better place to live,” she said.

Catherine Muturi the Centum Properties Limited board member advised the beneficiaries to work hard as there were lots of opportunities out there for those who excel.

“If you won’t go and work hard you will come back here and desperately be with your parents again,” she said.

Muturi, who is a former managing director for Kenya Ports Authority, emphasised the need for discipline and urged the students to desist from bad company while in school which can affect their performance.

She told them to choose friends carefully as bad friends are going to mess with their lives.

The board member also took time to personally talk to some of the beneficiaries and advised them to take care of themselves and desist from engaging in sexual behaviours which could affect their education.

“As somebody who comes from this area I am very happy and proud of what we have done as Centum, and I am proud of the young boys and girls who have finished their fourth form and are now ready for college,” she said.

John Tangai, a parent of one of the scholarship beneficiaries, could not hide his joy upon getting the scholarship because his child excelled.

Tangai, who is a farmer and relies on casual jobs for survival, said before getting the chance he was in dilemma because he has another child in university, together with one headed for college and one in Form 4.

The one who benefitted he said is his fourth born who was set to join Form 1 and he could not afford and thanked Vipingo  for their support.

“My child struggled and scored 336 marks and has got a place at Nyamasare Girls’ Secondary School in Homabay so I thank Centum for the scholarship because I could not afford to educate her,” the father of six said. 

Beatrice Gongo, a mother of a beneficiary who is joining Form 1 at Ribe Boys High School, said she has gone through hard times bringing up his son and had always urged him to work hard.

“I wake up at 4am daily and return home at 8pm, leaving him with his young siblings so as to ensure he got education, I did not get any chance to go to school,” she said.

Gongo, who works at Tororo Cement Company as a casual labourer, said even now she cannot even afford the money for shopping because of the high poverty levels.

Clarice Nazi, a scholarship beneficiary from Kadzinuni, said she completed her KCPE at Kadzinuni Primary and scored 386 marks adding that she will be joining Bahari girls’ high school.

She also thanked Vipingo Development limited for giving her a chance to study.

“I wish to become a surgeon so I promise that I will work hard and do what I am supposed to do,” he said.

Fred Murimi from Centum Investment Company said they had awarded 50 scholarships to students who were joining high school in a programme, which has been running since 2016.

So far, he said more 300 needy students have benefited in the scholarship where they fund high school education for four years.

“So far we’ve had three lots who have finished their high school education and a good number of them have already joined universities and we think were it not be for this programme many of them may not have got the opportunity to complete their high school education and even to progress to university,” he said.

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, who also came in for the ceremony, thanked Centum for what they were doing to the community on the work of education.

He said the beauty of it is that the scholarship supports needy students to high school and even further.

The programme is in line with the program of Centum Investment Limited that is building a multibillion city and those being educated now will be able to benefit from the massive job opportunities that will come with the development.

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