Chiefs in Kisii join hunt for pupils yet to attend school
Education officers and chiefs in Kisii County are visiting villages looking for children yet to report to secondary schools.
Their move is in compliance with the government’s policy on 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools.
County Director of Education (CDE) Pius Ngo’ma said 3,000 pupils who sat last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE) have not yet been reported. Yet the government has been channelling funds for free education.
He was speaking during a function for 167 students from poor families who received scholarships through Equity Bank’s Wings to Fly and Elimu programmes. He said only 35,000 students out of 38,000 have reported to the school.
The Elimu programme gave 156 scholarships while the bank sponsored 11 students across Kisii county. The beneficiaries were picked competitively by a selection panel.
Ngo’ma was accompanied by the bank’s branch manager, Robinson Mirieri, Kisii Central sub-county Education officer Cyrus Juma, Kisii central Deputy County Commissioner Wilberforce Kilonzo, and members of the selection panel.
Ng’oma said 556 pupils from the county have benefitted from the scholarships over the past three years.
On his part, Kilonzo deplored increasing cases of drug abuse and illicit brew among school children. Mirieri said more than 1000 students applied for the scholarship but only 167 qualified.
