Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan has made public secondary school education free.
During the governor’s launch of his Elimu Kwa Wote initiative, Adan said devolution has brought blessings to Mandera and given residents hope for a bright future.
“The long drought has however, impacted negatively on the lives of our people. This has brought hunger, malnutrition on children and diseases among the older people,” the governor said.
He spoke during a telephone interview with the Star on Monday.
Adan said more than 500,000 people are at risk and require immediate intervention in terms of food supply and medicine.
He said to deal with the drought situation that has devastated families in the county, his government has set aside Sh350 million in the 2022-2023 Mandera bursary fund.
The governor said the funds will pay for tuition for all students enrolled in the county’s 59 government secondary schools.
“This Elimu Kwa Wote initiative, will help thousands of families who are struggling with poverty and the effects of the protracted drought. It will benefit more than 22,000 students in the county,” he said.
Adan said the money from the bursary fund will also go towards the ward bursary fund, to support Mandera students attending school in other counties.
“Without this initiative, the county’s educational system will collapse and thousands of children who are already suffering from insufficient teachers and the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic will lag behind their peers,” he said.
The governor said the county and the larger country suffered immensely during the Covid-19 pandemic and later the drought wiped out livestock, which his people depended upon.
“Without support from the county, no child will go back to school. As the governor of Mandera, I will ensure that this Elimu Kwa Wote Initiative is sustained,” he said.
Adan said education is the pillar of everything in the country and he will not sit back and see his people miss school because of funds.
The governor said the programme will complement the national government-constituency development fund bursary schemes.
He also said the government is looking into a joint online application system that is effective and efficient to reduce the duplication of bursary awards.
“I am also a champion of the girl child affirmative action, and I will continue to support the girls’ affirmative action programme, which was started here in 2019,” he added.
Adan said the initiative will ensure that the 11 girls at Uskudar University in Turkey complete their studies successfully and return home to contribute to the development of their home county and country.
The governor further said after the failure of the short rains, the common people of Mandera require more support in foodstuff donations.
He appealed to Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, Safaricom Foundation, KCB, and Equity Bank to keep supporting talented but needy students from the county.
Adan also asked them to increase the number of scholarships available to students.