Mandera, Kenya| The County Government of Mandera has launched an ambitious bursary scheme that is geared towards improving academic standards in the region. The historic bursary scheme will see the county government allocate Ksh 350M towards clearance of entire fees for all students in public secondary schools.
The kitty dubbed Elimu Kwa Wote(Education For All) is set to benefit more than 59 public secondary schools in the region. This becomes the biggest ever investment in education across the entire Frontier region.
Speaking during the launch, Governor Mohamed Khalif emphasized the need to invest in education touting it as his key campaign agenda. “This initiative will benefit over 22000 students in our county and provide relief to thousands of families suffering due to poverty and the impact of the prolonged drought.” The governor reiterated in his keynote address.
Khalif further divulged plans to substantially boost the Ward Bursary Fund kitty which will be used to support Mandera students studying in other counties. However, the beneficiaries will only be those studying in government schools.
The governor says this will supplement the support provided by other agencies such as the NG-CDF and the private sector actors such as Equity Bank, KCB among others. He also recognized other stakeholders including the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.
Mr. Khalif also disclosed that his administration is exploring ways of digitizing the bursary application process in order to reduce duplicity while also enhancing transparency and accessibility. This, he said, is happening with the involvement of all stakeholders including the local members of parliament.
See photos of the event below.
The initiative has been welcomed affirmatively and social media users have heaped praises on the governor for his steadfast action to prioritize education in the academically ailing region. Other devolution supremos from the Frontier region have also been called upon to emulate the example of MAK, as the governor is fondly known to his supporters in Mandera.
Governor Khalif further promised to continue supporting the girl-child initiative initiated by his predecessor, Captain Ali Roba, who is now the County Senator. The initiative has sponsored more than a dozen girls to study overseas with most concentrated in Turkey.
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