Financial constraints still hinder the transition of some Grade 10 learners to senior schools around the country, even as the reporting day has reached the fourth day. Education stakeholders are warning that if immediate measures are not taken, hundreds of learners will be left out of senior secondary education.
At Mwingi West, Kitui County, three Grade 10 students have not yet reported to their respective senior schools due to lack of school fees. The students who are missing, Sarah Mwende, the top performer at Ilalambyu Comprehensive School, Jonathan Kathunzi, and Jacob Lakeli, have reached out to well, wishers and education stakeholders for financial support so they can sustain their studies.
The matter has alarmed senior school administrators in Kisii and Migori counties, where some schools have experienced student attendance figures as low as 40 per cent. In a letter to the local press, the headteachers in the two counties claimed that financial difficulties of parents and guardians account for the main reason behind the low student numbers.
Nevertheless, there are many interventions that are assisting vulnerable learners in various areas of the country. In Nakuru County, hundreds of Grade 10 students from needy families were given bursaries totaling KES 13. 8 million by the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), County Government, and other well, wishers and benevolent institutions.
In Garissa County, the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, led Elimu Scholarship Programme has already allowed 1, 129 learners from low, income households to stay in school and benefit from education. The program focuses on helping bright but financially challenged students, providing them with the means to attend senior secondary school.
Moreover, in Homa Bay County, over 200 vulnerable Grade 10 students who had been struggling to find the resources for school fees, got a relief when the charitable group Voice of Peace (VOP) took care of their fees. Their families now face much less financial hardship.
At the local level, Kilifi County Government is playing a part in the educational upliftment of less fortunate students by setting aside KES 150 million to assist vulnerable Grade 10 students who are a part of their education support programme.
In the midst of the Grade 10 registration process nationwide, the various education players have voiced a need for greater synergy between both the national and county governments and for more support from donors and well, wishers in order to ensure that no student is deprived of education due to lack of finances.
