Education remains the link between poverty and prosperity and the less endowed will mostly hang on it for better prospects. Unfortunately, even those who pull all the stops to do well in school in a bid to elude poverty don’t always reach ‘Disney land’.
Only a small percentage of last year’s KCSE star performers, especially from poor backgrounds, have joined the schools to which they were admitted, thanks to compassionate Samaritans. Those who couldn’t get support were abandoned to their fate.
Since this scenario keeps replaying itself every time the exam results are out, it should by now have behoved the stakeholders to find a solution to it.
Country governments should come up with a fund in their budgetary allocations to pay fees for exemplary performers who cannot join high school for lack of money. The national government should also chip in to help the worthy cause.
But as has happened before, we would need an above-board mechanism to guard against abuse to such a noble initiative. We’ve seen bursaries awarded to children whose parents can easily afford the fees, rubbishing the purpose of the programme.
Depending wholly on well-wishers to sponsor bright children through school has a shelf life and there is no way that can be sustainable. Putting the support in the Statutes and shielding it from abuse would be a better approach.
To paraphrase Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, I have a dream that, in the not-so-distant future, children of the slave masters and those of former slaves will wine and dine together at the table of brotherhood.
That, however, can only happen if we deliberately stem the going to waste of bright children who cannot afford school fees.
Most university students in Kenya come from poor backgrounds and, hence, cannot rely on their families for financial support.
One has to pay tuition fees, buy food and meet rent expenses. Those who entirely depend on Helb have failed to show up for the new semester due to a delay in the disbursement of the study loan.
Students can no longer concentrate on their studies as they haven’t paid fees or rent. Many even go hungry, which forces them to skip classes, leading to low attendance during lectures and, ultimately, poor performance.
Helb helps students to cater for their needs without stress throughout the course. The government should, therefore, ensure that the loans hit the students’ accounts on time.
The government should also increase the amount of the loan granted to students to see to it that they are not left behind during the prevailing tough economic times.
Mitchell Whitenny Ominde, Kisumu
