There were no academic scholarships awarded to any student by the Nandi county government to take studies in Finland.
County education CEC Scholastica Tuwei said 25 Nursing students taking studies at Edusampo College in Finland from Nandi county were sponsored by individual parents and guardians while others are self.
Tuwei said individual parents and the student met their obligations including paying fees, accommodation and air tickets to the destination and the county had no role.
“The county government's role was to facilitate the process by linking the parents, students with college and to ensure that each students pay required fees before travelling and which we perfectly did,” Tuwei said.
She was reacting to a threat by the C.E.O of the college Terhi Toikkanen to terminate studies for 10 students who were expected to travel to start their studies.
The county explained that the first 15 students were already pursuing their studies in Finland while the second group of 10 were still in Kenya as some of the students had some challenges.
“The county has tried to intervene to ensure that the program is not terminated as we want more students whose families can afford can go and study in Finnland,” Tuwei said.
In a press statement, the county dismissed reports indicating that the county government had a role in fees or accommodation sponsorship.
Edusampo College has subsequently cancelled all new visa applications for students including the 10 awaiting to travel to start their studies.
Tuwei said the Nandi county government is appealing to the Finnish Embassy in Kenya to intervene and allow the 10 to receive their visas upon completion of payment of their fees.
The first patch of 15 nursing students from Nandi county left the country in January 2023 for studies upon payment of Sh22.2m.
In 2021, Nandi governor Stephen Sang travelled to Finland with a team of officials to seek educational opportunities for students in Helsinki.
