Despite the court ruling that county bursaries will be attached to the national government starting next year, counties have vowed to challenge the decision and have their allocations.
The Finance, Planning, and Economic Affairs Committee Chairperson of the Council of Governors and Kakamega Governor, Fernandez Barasa, has stated so.
The governor was speaking in Malava during the flagging off ceremony of county medical supplies, where he announced that counties would also challenge the decision to see them allocate some bursary allocation to support vulnerable learners who are not identified and captured by the national government constituency fund (NG-CDF) database.
“We have quite a number of needy and vulnerable learners who miss out on the national allocation and approach the counties for assistance over the same, and it will be well if we are also allocated some funds to cater for their bursaries too, considering that already the MPs have enough for the same, this national cake is big enough for both the national and county governments to share and should not be only awarded to them” he said.
He said that, through the courts, the Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, has allowed the counties to disburse only this year’s bursary, with next year’s exercise being taken over by the MPs.
He said the directive will see them start disbursing county bursaries this May, as they look forward to presenting their plea through legal redress to have their grievances heard and determined.
READ ALSO:
Rejected but victorious: Kisumu Girls triumph at National Drama Gala, Ramba High wins big
He called on the learners from the county who are aspiring to join universities and who will miss the bursary to use the Ksh40 million scholarship programme through the partnership between his county and Access Kenya.
“We have collaborated with Access Kenya to give out loans to those learners joining universities from this county, and they can apply through their respective ward administrators; we are doing this because we are committed to matters of education, as it is one of my key pillars in my manifesto,” he assured.
Further responding to the construction of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) within the county, Barasa called on the contractors to ensure their work in the centres was complete by the end of June this year to allow learning and directed the MCAs to oversee the projects in their various wards.
The leadership said it will continue to support county polytechnics’ operations as part of its education and training priorities.
He asked many young people who need technical skills to join these technical institutions to attain hands-on skills that enable them to be self-employed or easily absorbed into the employment market.
“Kenya is in need of technical know-how, and that is why even the national government is investing heavily in technical training, and as a county, we are also following suit to create our own employment database instead of outsourcing from outside,” he added.
By Wakhungu Andanje
