By Felix Wanderi
Kiambu County Governor James Nyoro has accused unscrupulous school managers and some beneficiaries of colluding to steal bursary funds.
The governor said that when cheques are cashed, some of the money is split between the management of schools and supposed beneficiaries.
“Of the bursary funds that we are distributing now, probably 25 per cent of it will not benefit needy students. There is a lot of corruption involved,” Nyoro said when he issued bursary cheques worth Sh100 million on Tuesday.
The money is intended to benefit 25,000 needy students in 60 wards.
Boarding schools have been allocated Sh60 million, day schools Sh10 million, vocational training centres and universities Sh20 million, orphans Sh4 million and persons with disabilities Sh1 million.
“Some people send the cheques to schools and tell the teacher to cash it and split it in half between them and we have established that,” the governor said.
He said that in future, the county government will follow up on the bursary cheques to ensure the money serves the intended purpose.
During the function, Nyoro said the county government was planning to rehabilitate Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres across the county and construct new ones.
County CECM for Education Mary Kamau revealed that 1,200 ECDE teachers who have been on contract will be employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
Deputy Governor Joyce Ngugi called on schools to ensure that girls who became pregnant during the Covid-19 break are not stigmatised.
“Society should encourage, not stigmatise them,” said Ngugi.
