45,000 miss out on full Form One scholarships as list is released

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha during the release of 2021 form one selection and placement results. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

The hopes of 45,000 candidates in last year’s KCPE to get full Form One scholarships have been dashed after the government released a list of beneficiaries.

This follows revelations that only 9,000 have been selected to benefit from the Elimu Scholarship Programme.

The programme targets learners from poor and vulnerable backgrounds from 110 sub-counties and 15 urban centres that have informal settlements in Kenya.

A total of 54,000 applications were received in the scholarship programme.

The scholarship is meant for candidates who scored 280 marks and above.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha will unveil the beneficiaries on Thursday at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.

Beneficiaries will have their full school fees for the entire period of secondary school education in the public secondary school paid.

They will also be provided with school uniforms, learning materials and personal effects for the entire period of secondary schooling.

Transport to and from school during school opening, mid-term breaks and closing will also be provided in addition to Sh500 pocket money per term. The scholarship programme is part of the Kenya Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project being implemented by the Ministry of Education to boost retention in upper primary school and transition to secondary school of poor and vulnerable students. The ministry identified the Equity Group Foundation (EGF) as the Partner Agency to design and support implementation of the Programme.

Based on the 2020 KCPE performance, some 879,208 candidates, who scored 200 marks and above and met the stated criteria were eligible to compete for scholarships

Those to be unveiled Thursday will include merited cases under affirmative action for those who have lesser marks if the candidates are orphans, come from vulnerable communities or are living with special needs and disabilities.

Details show that candidates with special needs and disabilities (physical, hearing and visual impairments, autism, albinism, learning disabilities and others) were also considered.

Also considered for the scholarships were candidates whose parents/guardians are living with disabilities that have compromised their ability to meet their children’s financial obligations.

Also given a chance are candidates whose families are affected by HIV and Aids and other chronic illnesses with debilitating effects that could render their parents and guardians destitute and unable to fend for their families.

Orphans and vulnerable children, candidates from vulnerable communities in the target sub-counties and from urban centres with informal settlements were also given a chance.

The programme was also open to those who suffered from neglect, abuse and have no support to continue with their education.

Candidates whose families are affected by extreme poverty and have no resources to pay for their education were also factored.

Only candidates who met the above criteria and are from the selected 110 sub-counties and the 15 urban centres with informal settlements form the shortlist.