At least 124,100 deserving yet financially challenged students enrolled in public primary and secondary schools across Nairobi are set to reap the benefits of a substantial Sh857 million bursary programme initiated by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration.
Among the 124,100 students, 1,200 needy and bright Form One students will have their entire secondary school fees covered under the programme.
This is part of Sh595 million dedicated to the 85 wards within Nairobi and an additional Sh262 million earmarked for the county executive scholarship programme.
This is an increase in individual ward allocations, with each now receiving Sh7 million—an uplifting adjustment from the previous Sh6 million allotment.
"We have steadily raised our allocation to the ward bursary funds. We started at Sh4.5 million in 2022; we later raised this to Sh6 million, and we’re now up to Sh7 million per ward," Governor Johnson Sakaja said on Saturday.
Speaking during the launch of the bursary scheme, Governor Sakaja expressed his administration's unwavering commitment to providing educational support.
“This is an enormous investment that we are making in the students in Nairobi. We believe in our young people, and just like any investment, we expect to see results," he said.
"We are going to have an accountability plan to ensure that learners perform well given the huge investment that we have made in them."
Sakaja revealed that Sh1.88 billion has been pledged to ensure underprivileged students successfully navigate their secondary education journey.
This includes the Sh1.025 billion in bursaries that the county government provided last year to 107,907 students.
The county boss urged the learners to seize the opportunity and forge a promising future through education, emphasizing the transformative power it holds for their individual growth and the collective prosperity of the community.
“This is an enormous investment that we are making in the students in Nairobi. We believe in our young people and just like any investment we expect to see results," he said.
"We are going to have an accountability plan to ensure that learners perform well given the huge investment that we have made in them."
In his commitment to ECDE education, the governor noted that his administration will also provide free ECDE through capitation to public Pre-Primary schools where every learner will be allocated Sh3,200.