Streamline bursaries | Nation

The plight of a 15-year-old girl who elected to beg strangers for school fees in Nairobi’s city centre is a cause of concern. Evalyne Wairimu, a student at Kihumbu-ini Secondary School in Murang’a County, has been the talk of the town after she was spotted carrying placards with messages begging well-wishers to bail her out. She’s been out of school for two weeks due to Sh22,000 fee arrears which her mother, Beatrice Wanjiku, is unable to raise.

This, unfortunately, is not an isolated case. Two years ago, Ndungu Njoro, a student at Kapenguria High School, West Pokot, was forced to walk for 50 kilometres after he was chased away from school for failure to clear his fee arrears of Sh109,000. And last year, a Form 2 student at Chavakali High School in Vihiga had to walk for 35km to his home for the same reason.

In a nation that prides itself in the high quality of its education programmes in the region, all children should have access to free basic education. While the government has been implementing the 100 per cent transition policy from primary to secondary school, the problem appears to be retention of these students in class. The Education Cabinet secretary, Prof George Magoha, recently warned school principals against sending students home for fees, a directive that was warmly welcomed by parents, most of whom are yet to recover from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The implementation of such roadside ministerial directives has, however, been a huge challenge for the education officials. It’s a sad indictment of our society that a Form 3 student should roam the streets begging for school fees yet we have all these good-sounding policies to empower the girl-child.

Elected leaders all have funds—such as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF)—that they should use to support education, particularly of students from poor backgrounds.  End the shame of the begging bowl for fees; use the public funds.