A section of the beneficiaries of the Elimu Scholarship Programme take photos with leaders including MP Rahim Dawood
By The Peak
Imenti North MP Rahim Dawood has lauded the Jomo Kenyata Foundation for awarding full scholarships to some of the neediest students from the constituency.
During the commissioning of the scholarship program at Kinoru Day Secondary School, Rahim said that the move would go a long way in promoting education in the most remote and needy homesteads in the constituency and eventually lift their economic standards.
“The scholarships awarded today are very important in the sense that they will cover the fees, uniforms, upkeep, and transport expenses of the learners to and from their specific schools.
This cannot be compared to the bursaries that are usually issued by the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF),” said Mr Rahim.
He added that the scholarship will go a long way in ensuring that the beneficiaries acquire education and meet their future life aspirations.
“It’s a very big chance for the beneficiaries and we are asking them to keep off peer pressure once they get to their specific secondary schools since this is always the beginning of all troubles,” said Mr Rahim.
He added: “These are the few who are chosen but it didn’t mean that all those unsuccessfully applied were not needy. We are therefore calling on other good wishes or organisations to chip in and at least sponsor a few other students in the spirit of boosting our literacy levels.”
The MP called on the Ministry of Finance through the treasury to release NGCDF funds as soon as possible to issue bursaries to learners who have always depended on the same for their education.
Imenti North MP Rahim Dawood
Imenti North Sub County Director of Education Joseph Njeru, who was the secretary to the County selection advisory committee, said they received a total of 284 applications and most of them needed support.
He however said the foundation could not sponsor all of them which means that there is a need for more interventions so that the needy learners can have access to education.
To get the 31 beneficiaries, he added, they followed the criteria set by the Ministry of Education which included visiting the homes of the applicants to ascertain their status in terms of total orphans, partial orphans, poverty index of the parents, disability cases, chronic diseases in the family, as well as marginalization.
