Some 205 students are assured of reporting to their first year of tertiary education after an insurance firm gave them a donation of Sh12 million.
Prudential Life Assurance Kenya (PLAK) made the donation through Kenya Education Fund, a non-governmental organisation that gives high school scholarships to financially challenged students.
Beneficiaries will include students from financially disadvantaged households and those whose parents and guardians suffered a loss of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 Recovery Fund was initiated by Prudential in 2020 to support approved charitable and community projects that address the immediate social and economic impacts of the pandemic.
Speaking in Oloolaiser National School, in Ngong, Kajiado County while giving the donation, PLAK CEO Gwen Kinusu said some 200,000 students qualify for placement in universities and tertiary institutions but thousands miss out due to poverty.
“It really is unfortunate for students to struggle through primary and secondary school education, and just when they are about to join college – where many lives are transformed – they meet financial roadblocks that prevent them from proceeding,” she said.
Kinusu added that the situation worsened after the Covid-19 pandemic with many breadwinners losing their livelihoods.
Prudential has an ongoing partnership with the KEF that started back in 2014. The partnership has seen over 180 students receive full scholarships for their secondary school and university education, supported by previous donations from the Covid Recovery Fund.
Francis Ng’ang’a, the KEF’s Country Director said the organisation receive an overwhelming number of applications for financial support every year, and lauded Prudential for its continued support.
“We receive thousands of applications from across the country and were it not for the support of well-meaning institutions like Prudential, we may not have the capacity to honour many of them,” he said.
In 2021, PLAK printed and distributed over 16,000 revision books to learners countrywide.