Close to 11,000 KCSE candidates in Mombasa will be getting free lunch courtesy of the Sharif Nassir Foundation during the exams.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said on Monday this is to retain the candidates in school as they sit their exams.
“We would not like a situation where a candidate is forced to rush home for lunch, which may or may not be there, and come back for the afternoon paper,” Nassir said.
“We also know what it means to have to sit an exam on an empty stomach.”
He announced that the program started Monday the day the KCSE exam officially started and expressed confidence the learners will perform well in Mombasa.
Speaking on Monday at the 21st Kenya Primary School Heads Association annual conference where he was the chief guest, Nassir said all the KCSE candidates in Mombasa are benefitting from the lunch program regardless of the status of the school.
The governor said he fell in love with education since he was a young boy, growing up to be an MP then governor, with most of his project's education related.
“We all stood on the shoulders of teachers. Loyalty is always taken with high esteem.
My loyalty to teachers and education has made me invest heavily in education,” Nassir said.
He said the education department in the county government gets the lion’s share of the budget every year.
The governor said he initiated a feeding program for ECDEs in Mombasa where all children get lunch.
“This has helped increase enrolment from 8,000 learners to more than10,000 over the last two years,” he said.
The county has built 10 ECDE centres to accommodate the rising demand for education.
He said his administration will partner with primary schools to ensure there is a feeding program in each learning institution eventually.
“I have asked the department of education to map out areas we can build more kitchens. So that when we talk of the transition from ECDE to primary school, the feeding program can also transit into primary schools,” Nassir said.
He told the primary school heads; his administration has come up with a full scholarship program for those joining secondary school.
“Two top boys and two top girls from every school in Mombasa get to be incorporated into the program.
We also considered the neediest,” Nassir told the teachers.
“Last year, we sponsored 400 students on full scholarships.”
"The program will be continuous as long as the beneficiaries maintain a certain level of discipline and performance throughout their secondary school education," he said.
Nassir said he has plans to continue with the program to the university level.
He also said the ‘No Child Left Behind Program’, which he has started is meant to ensure all secondary students are in school without interruption because of fees.
The program is such that all public secondary school learners in Mombasa get a stipend of Sh5,000, which goes towards school fees.
The amount is sent to the schools
directly.
