• They said most parents, especially from the highly populated Mt Kenya region, have been struggling to pay school fees for their children since bursary allocation per child has been too little.
• They said thousands of parents apply for bursary funds and most of them end up getting nothing while others receive very little that cannot sustain the education of their children.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Kiambu MPs have welcomed the move by the government to increase bursary funds, terming it as shot in the arm for underprivileged learners in the country.
MPs Gabriel Kagombe (Gatundu South) and his Juja counterpart George Koimburi praised President William Ruto for signing into law a Bill that saw the bursary allocation from the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) increased from 35 per cent to 40 per cent.
Speaking separately in their constituencies, the legislators said the new allocation will play a key role in ensuring continuity and completion of education by students.
They said most parents, especially from the highly populated Mt Kenya region, have been struggling to pay school fees for their children since bursary allocation per child has been too little.
They said thousands of parents apply for bursary funds and most of them end up getting nothing while others receive very little that cannot sustain the education of their children.
“There has been inequalities in bursary allocation whereby students from our region have been receiving as low as Sh2,000 whereas other areas students have been receiving full scholarships," Kagombe said in Theta village.
"The burden has always been shouldered by parents most of whom are peasant farmers or casual labourers in the villages. This increment is a boost for them.”
Before the law was amended, allocations to bursary schemes under the fund could not amount to more than 35 per cent of total constituency NG-CDF allocation in a financial year.
The additional funding, the MPs said, will supplement the government’s efforts to reduce illiteracy by increasing access to education and improving transition rates from primary to secondary schools.
They said some schools had almost all students applying for the bursary fund, which was usually not enough following overwhelming response from applicants.
The MPs said there have been calls to increase the limit amount to support teaching and learning activities.
“We have been receiving numerous applications by students who are in dire need of financial aid but we have not been allocating all of them the funds. We hope that the fund will be increased further in the near future to enhance accessibility of education by majority of students who hail from humble backgrounds,” Koimburi said in Juja town on Tuesday.
The MP said Juja NG-CDF will disburse about Sh73.5 million worth of bursary funds adding that each student will receive Sh8,000.
“Each student will receive a bursary cheques worth Sh8,000 and we hope that the money will reduce the burden shouldered by parents to pay school fees,” Koimburi said.
Under the new law, NG-CDF will also cater to other social benefits such as school feeding programmes, particularly in drought-stricken areas where students drop out of school in search of food and water.
The new law also introduces a three per cent allocation of the NG-CDF to be used in paying for utilities, costs and maintenance of constituency digital hubs, which are seen as key in enabling the youth to acquire technological skills.
Additionally, the new law allocates a maximum of five per cent of the funds allocated per constituency to climate change mitigation activities including afforestation, re-afforestation, grassroots sensitisations and tree seedling production.
Setting aside NG-CDF funds for climate action is envisioned to play a critical role in preventing further extreme and devastating weather conditions.