193 needy children from Machakos County can breathe a sigh of relief after Equity Bank and the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation came to their aid through the Elimu Scholarship Program.
The children who sat their KCPE examinations in 2022 are now assured of pursuing secondary education after the two cooperate organizations partnered to settle their secondary education through a full – four-year sponsorship.
“We are today flagging off Elimu scholars’ beneficiaries from the Machakos branch, 45 in number, for Elimu Equity. They are from Kalama, Mwala, Kathiani and Machakos sub-counties,” Equity Bank, Machakos branch manager Hellen Muthoki said.
Muthoki said the 89 beneficiaries were selected from a list of 1,025 applicants from the four sub-counties.
She addressed the press during the event at St. Pauls University in Machakos Campus on Friday.
“We have also flagged off the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation list that has 44 scholars. So, in total, today we flag off 89 of them and for the county, it’s 193. That’s giving us a total scholarship for the county of 725 since the birth of the Wings to fly and Elimu scholarship,” Muthoki said.
She said the students’ scholarships were comprehensive; included school fees for the entire four years and pocket money for books and uniforms. The beneficiaries all scored above 280 marks.
“Today we set off these scholars on a journey of success so that they proceed with their secondary education, get to the university and join in giving back to society after they become successful in life,” Muthoki said.
Machakos acting county commissioner David Rotich said the selected children were orphans and vulnerable, though bright.
“I was the chairperson of the selection committee in this program. All the beneficiaries are from humble backgrounds, hence need the scholarship to join secondary school,” Rotich said.
Rotich said the government was committed to ensuring a 100 per cent transition from Grade 7 to junior secondary.
He said the same would also be achieved by children who sat KCPE in 2022 joining form one as of next week.
Rotich told parents whose children either sat in Grade 7 or KCPE in 2022 to ensure their children proceeded to the next levels of education as expected.
He said children joining junior secondary school shouldn’t be forced to buy new uniforms by teachers, but instead, get admitted to the schools in uniforms they had in primary school.
“We will ensure that all those who sat KCPE join to form one,” Rotich said.
Rotich called on other well–wishers including other cooperate organizations and foundations to emulate Equity Bank and join hands in supporting needy children in Machakos county by supporting their education.
He said they had developed a data bank for such needy students who hadn’t gotten the necessary support to join secondary school due to financial pressure.
