Save our dreams, learners appeal to well-wishers

For George Oduor, 14, the pain of watching other students secure scholarships to enable them pursue secondary school education is unbearable.

Oduor is among thousands of students who have been trying to secure a scholarship to join secondary school but have not been any lucky.

He scored 382 out of the possible 500 marks and was placed to St Mary High School, Yala in Siaya county but his desire to become a surgical doctor now seems like a pipe dream since he cannot raise the school fees.

With just under three weeks before Form One reporting, Oduor now faces a bleak future after it turned out that he may not proceed to secondary school due to lack of fees.

As other parents are busy running up and down to bookshops and uniform shops, Oduor, whose parents are peasant farmers, is stranded after he failed to secure scholarship from some of the major education financiers and bursary funds in the country.

“I love Sciences. That is why I want to be a doctor. My ambitions are to study hard, get a good job and help my family. My brother and sister who completed high school recently are yet to join college due to lack of fees. Our elder brother  lost his job following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Oduor explains.

“I want to appeal to anyone to help me go to school. All I need is fees because God will open doors for other necessities,” said Oduor, an ardent football fan.

It is a similar situation for 15-year-old Abbygael Atieno from Nyalenda slums in the neighbouring Kisumu County, who lives with her mother, a single parent.

Atieno scored 390 marks and is set to join Ng’iya Girls High School in Siaya county.

Her mother, Angeline Amollo, 36, told People Daily she is unable to pay for her daughter’s school fees due to the nature of her job.

“I am a security guard and our salary is low. It cannot sustain me with my four children. I do not get support from her father whom I separated with,” she said.

“I have walked from one office to another with my daughter but unfortunately they are telling me I am late. I also went to several banks to seek help but none has been forthcoming,” she adds.

Hold my hand

In Mombasa, students from poor families say their academic dreams had been shattered after missing out on the Equity Wings to Fly scholarship and do not know where else to seek help.

Carol Achieng Otieno from Changamwe is among learners who performed well in the KCPE examination but have little, or no hope, of joining secondary school.

Achieng who sat the examination at Umoja Primary School, had 373 marks and was selected to join Murray Girls Secondary school in Taita Taveta.

According to Achieng, the dream to become a neurosurgeon may become not come true if well-wishers will not hold her hand and help her through  her next academic journey.

“I missed out on the Equity Bank scholarship. My appeal is to any person who is awarding scholarships to consider my plight. My parents are struggling to raise my fees,” said Achieng.

At least 24 learners from needy backgrounds in Mombasa have benefited from comprehensive scholarships.

Job Yatich, 15, is another student afraid of missing out, with his mother Naomi Kimengich saying she cannot raise school fees for the boy who has been admitted to Emining Boys High School.

Elimu scholarship

“I do menial jobs in the village which are not available sometimes. I call on well-wishers to assist my son to achieve his academic dream,” said Kimengich.

The learners, however, still have another opportunity to try their luck in the government’s Elimu scholarship.

The Ministry of Education, through the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, is awarding Secondary School Elimu Scholarships, including in informal settlements in 15 urban centres to needy and vulnerable learners who attained 280 marks and above in the 2022 KCPE examination.

In a public notice placed in local dailies last week, the Ministry said candidates who are orphans and those with special needs and disabilities who attained below 280 marks may be considered for the purpose of affirmative action.

Candidates who sat the 2022 KCPE exams in public primary schools are eligible.

Duly completed application forms, including supporting documents, should be submitted to the nearest Sub-County Directors of Education offices by close of business today.

The Ministry sai shortlisted candidates, accompanied by parents/guardians, will be invited for an interview which will be conducted by the community selection advisory committees.

“The scholarship caters for school fees, transport to and from school, school kit and a stipend (pocket money) for the beneficiaries for the four-year education period,” said the Ministry.

Applicants must be candidates with special needs and disabilities or orphans and vulnerable children or whose parents/guardians are living with disabilities that have compromised their ability to meet the financial obligations of their children.

Children whose families are affected by HIV/Aids and other chronic illnesses that could render parents and guardians destitute and unable to fend for their families or those affected by extreme poverty rendering them unable to educate their children are encouraged to apply.

Also to be considered are learners who have suffered neglect, abuse and have no support to continue with their education.

Over the weekend, some 1,000 Equity’s Wings to Fly learners from financially challenged backgrounds received scholarships.

“They have earned these scholarships through their hard work and we remain optimistic that at the end of the four-year period, they will emerge as winners,” said James Mwangi, the Executive Equity Group Foundation (EGF) chairman.

Despite several scholarship programmes, thousands of learners are still not able to secure any of them and are hopeful for a miracle.

Others are from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) which targets beneficiaries from all counties, with 100 of them being students with physical challenges.

The annual education scholarship programme targets 1,000 learners and deliberately ensures inclusion by targeting 50 per cent of girls into the programme.

—Reporting by Irene Githinji, Viola Kosome, Harrison Kivisu and Wycliff Sang