9,000 needy students to receive Form One Elimu Scholarships

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has said 9,000 needy students will receive Form One Elimu Scholarships.

Announcing the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results, CS Magoha said two cohorts of 9,000 beneficiaries each have been identified from the vulnerable and needy children who sat for their KCPE in the years 2020 and 2021, 18,000 students on the programme since 2019.

“We wish to thank His Excellency the President for providing scholarships under the Elimu Scholarship Programme for the last two years to the less-fortunate children in the slums and semi-arid areas,” he said.

So far, The Elimu programme offers its beneficiaries a  fully paid scholarship for four years.

The beneficiaries of the scholarships could not have gone to the best national schools without the support of the Elimu Scholarships.

“I wish to appeal to the President to provide money this year to cover the 9,000 scholarships under the Elimu Scholarship Programme to support our needy children,” he said.

According to Magoha, all students who completed KCPE will be admitted to high school.

CS Magoha said that all students are eligible to advance to the next level, including those who were found with irregularities and were given zero points in those subjects.

“All of the children will transit to high school. You’ll ask why yet some were caught colluding but the law says that if a child is found colluding in primary school for that subject they get zero, but they will pay for it,” said Magoha.

He further said that the Ministry of Education has already rolled out measures to ensure a smooth transition to high school.

He praised parents and teachers for working tirelessly to ensure that exams were held despite the disruption to the school calendar by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“Already the ministry has put in place measures to ensure a selection exercise is conducted soonest and I dare say that within two weeks I’ll be wanting to know whether it is complete or not,” he said.

“I wish to commend all parents and teachers for this good performance during the challenging period.

I’m impressed that the mark range between the top to candidates is only three points,” he added.

CAPTION; Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha while releasing the 2021 KCPE results at Mtihani House, Nairobi on March 28, 2022.