Fredrick Odiero
The Kisumu County government has so far disbursed bursaries and scholarships worth more than Sh609milion to 110,079 beneficiaries in the last five years.
Deputy Governor Mathews Owili says the fund is meant to support bright but needy children who have been struggling to pay fees to quench their thirst for education.
Dr Owili said the county government has been giving bursaries and scholarships every financial year since they moved to office 2017.
“As a result, we have changed the lives of young, ambitious learners, many of who have since realised their academic and career dreams,” he said.
Dr Owili, who spoke during the disbursement of Sh 51.3 million bursaries to 350 needy students on Wednesday, said the bursaries targets to ensure a smooth transition from Class Eight to Secondary Education and into universities.
The DG noted that the beneficiaries are in secondary school, college and university, adding currently, the kitty is fully funded by the county government.
In the 2021/2022 Financial Year, he said, the county allocated Sh205 million benefitting more than 30,000 recipients.
“It’s worth noting that allocation for this kitty has been on an upward trajectory since 2017 compared to the preceding years,” Dr Owili said.
In 2018, the DG noted, the bursary allocation was doubled from Sh2 million to Sh4.1 million for every ward, adding the number of students on scholarship per ward was raised from 8 to 10.
To ensure transparency and accountability in the county intervention mechanism, the deputy governor disclosed they had established bursary and scholarship committees at county and ward levels.
Dr Owili said the number of students partially supported in secondary schools, colleges, driving schools and universities, has remarkably risen.
He pointed out that for the first time during the 2021/2022 financial year; the county government supported 70 marine students; 35 males and 35 females drawn from each of the 35 wards in the county.
The county spent Sh60,000 on each of them, amounting to Sh4.2 million, the deputy governor observed.
He reassured that the county government was focused on the expansion of vocational training, is an important enabler in the economic growth of any nation.
Owili said the number of vocational training centres (VCTs) in Kisumu has increased from 20 to 26 since 2018.
“We expect the establishment of three more VTCs; one at Lela in Kobura, Waware in Masogo/Nyang’oma, and Path Othany in East Seme in the coming year,” he said.
Additionally, the county targets to establish at least one VTC per ward to bring training closer to residents. The county, Dr Owili said, spent approximately Sh206 million in capitation grants and was committed to increasing the allocation.
“We urge the youth to enrol in VCTs near them since the county guarantees partial payment of applicable fees of Sh 15,000,” he added.
On ECDEs, Dr Owili pointed out that the county has increased ECD Centres to 684, of which 627 are anchored in primary schools, with 57 being stand-alone public ECD centres.
The public ECD centres have a total enrolment of 52,818 children of whom 26,003 are girls and 26,815 are boys.
Dr Owili said they recently recruited 665 ECDE teachers across the seven sub-counties on permanent and pensionable terms after having served on a contract basis.
