Over 5,000 students from Mvita Constituency have received bursaries totalling sh.44 million.
Speaking during the issuance of the bursaries at Ronald Ngala Primary School Grounds, Mvita Member of Parliament Mohamed Soud Machele said 250 students who scored over 350 marks in last years Kenya Certificate of Primary Education got sh.15k each in bursaries.
“The provision of quality education to our rapidly growing youthful population is fundamental to the success of our Socio-Economic Development Blueprint. We are fulfilling our promise to the people of Mvita Constituency to provide access to quality and affordable education,” said Machele.
The Mvita legislature also promised parents to work with school heads to find a way to reduce school fees that is burdening parents.
“Parents are paying sh.20k school fees, capitation coming from Nairobi is sh.20k which totals to sh.40k. Out of the sh.20k parents pay, sh.5,000 goes to paying Board of Management (BOM) teachers because the number of teachers we get from the Ministry of Education is not enough. The remaining sh.15k goes to what your child eats 165 school days, which is around sh.95-100 daily,” said Machele.
“There’s an NGO in Nairobi ‘Food for Education’ that the Governor has partnered with in the ECDE feeding program. We want to bring them on board to see how the children can eat at a cheaper price. So if I give you a bursary of sh.6,000, the Governor gives you sh.6,000 then you pay sh.1,000 for the BOM funds,” he added.
However, the Mvita MP called on parents to take responsibility of and be more involved in their children’s education.
He cautioned them against depending on politicians for everything, saying the tough economic times was affecting everyone.
“Some parents want politicians to give them fare for their children to go to school, buy their children uniform and pocket money, they want a politician to do everything when his salary is not even enough for him. This also leads to corruption because a politician will try to do anything to get money. The situation is difficult for everyone, so take responsibility then we will help where we can,” said Machele.
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Meanwhile, the former Mama Ngina Girls premises is in the process of being registered as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) center.
MP Machele said the presence of a TVET institution in the constituency will help deal with unemployent in the sub-county.
“We wanted Mama Ngina to be made a TVET because 70 percent of our learners don’t perform well for university. So a vocational training center is better to train them on different skills that they can use day to day to earn a living,” he said.
