Nyandarua Woman Rep Faith Gitau defends bursary kitty, wants funds increased

As learners prepare to resume their studies for the third term, at least 600 students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Nyandarua County have benefited from bursary funds provided by the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).

Most of these learners come from very needy families, with some living with disabilities.

According to Nyandarua County Woman Representative Faith Gitau, the bursary and scholarship fund is designed to support these individuals. She further called on the government to consider increasing the allocations.

However, she criticized a recent legislative proposal suggesting that the bursary funds be channeled directly to schools and managed by school administrators.

This as a section of leaders have recently advocated for the consolidation of all education-related funding, including bursaries from the County Government, NG-CDF, and NGAAF, into a single fund to make education free.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula is pushing for the formulation of laws to collapse all bursaries and public scholarships into one fund.

Wetangula, who took a cue from Chief Justice Martha Koome, admits that the layers of duplication in the award of bursaries from the NG-CDF, counties, and the Ministry of Education reveal glaring inconsistencies.

The Ministry of Education has since been directed to provide any policies that will assist in the drafting of the legislative proposal.

Wetangula now wants a formulation of legislative proposals establishing a defined structure for the administration of public bursaries and scholarships, in a move that could jolt the political class, who have traded the fund for political support in the past.

Speaking at the Ol-Joro Orok NG-CDF Hall while distributing cheques to the learners on Friday, Ms. Gitau however noted that such a consolidation could negatively impact many beneficiaries, potentially leading to unfair distribution.

She urged leaders to consider the perspective of the beneficiaries to understand the full impact of the proposed changes.

"I've heard some people saying bursaries should not be given. Some of them have even used bursaries to study but now that they have finished school, they don't see the importance of the initiative,” she said.

“If they were here right now to see the children receiving the bursaries, they wouldn't be saying such things. They should come to the grassroots and see how bursaries are bringing positive change."

Her sentiments were echoed by Nyandarua Nominated MCA Muhindi Kariuki, who observed that current resources are insufficient to meet growing needs, necessitating a focus on the most urgent cases.

"They fail to realise that all of us do not come from the same economic backgrounds. The reason why we have bursaries is to be able to ensure that the less fortunate in society can access basic education," he said. 

"Carefully think about these things before you propose them. Bursaries are meant to help children who want to learn but don't have the financial means to do so."