By Malachi Motano

Primary school head teachers in Kiambu County have urged the government issue timely bursaries to needy students joining form one.

According to the Head teachers, it  would be pointless to allocate bursaries to learners months after they have received admission letters noting that their places are normally taken by students from well to do backgrounds.

The school managers also called for a bursary increase noting that at times, needy students are given very small amounts which end up as waste.

Paul Mbugua , Githunguri Township Primary school head teacher  who led the team said they regretted that exorbitant school fees charged by national schools normally ruin the dreams of thousands of bright but needy learners and urged the government to address the same.

“Tens of pupils who posted impressive marks in my school for instance are from very poor backgrounds while others are orphans and they may not realize their dreams unless sponsored through bursaries. The same replicates across the board,” said Paul Mbugua.

Mr. Mbugua said poverty among parents which has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic should not be allowed to dim the dreams of the 2020 KCPE stars.

“Giving a needy student as little as Sh 5,000 as bursary while the entire school fees is close to Sh100,000 is pointless. The learner ends up dropping out of school,” he said.

Githunguri Township Primary School emerged the best public school in Kiambu county n the recently released Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam.

The school had 111, boys 49 and girls 62 where 34 pupils scored 400 marks and above. Only 1 pupil scored less than 250  mark while only 7 missed the 300 mark. 

The school registered a mean score of 377.3 a rise of  +11.3 from previous mean of 366 last year.