One of the most dreaded sights in school for a learner struggling with fees payment is that of an administrator entering classrooms to read the names of students with arrears.
It is worse when this happens during examinations. That you only sit the exam having paid full fees. What a waste of time, many people curse, as they bow out of the room having studied the entire term or semester.
School fees payment is the game-changer. Those who pay fees — parents, guardians and other benefactors — are the heroes and heroines.
One parent told A Plain: ‘None under my care has ever been sent home for school arrears’. That’s big and calls for sacrifice.
Nonetheless, others lack and depend on bursaries, public or private, to learn. Such support determine one’s destiny in life because opportunities come and go.
For example, the Form One places are only open to learners up to a particular time and then they are replaced. So, it’s possible to miss a chance at a school of choice.
The Sh3 billion Elimu Scholarship Programme sponsored by the government, the World Bank and Equity Bank that is being launched this week is one such plan.
Already there are claims that some deserving cases may not make the coveted list.
How should bursary beneficiaries list be made? Neediness tops the list of what determines beneficiaries.
However, because the needy dot the country or world, there is a need to add the layer of bright people, who, ordinarily, worked extraordinarily hard to deliver mercurial performance. It makes sense to reach for the hands of those beckoning benefactors to deliver them to their dreams or Promised Land.
Three, the needy ought to appreciate the saying of early birds getting the juiciest worms. Those who are eyeing a school fees support must apply for these programmes, otherwise it is presumed they don’t require it.
But, since not everyone will have the information that Education CS George Magoha is launching the Sh3 billion Elimu Scholarship targeting 9,000 learners, well-wishers can inform a neighbour, friend or relative that something good is in the pipeline. Should they not know how to apply, hold their feeble hands and help them to cross the bursaries bridge.
Indeed, the community should readily give the learners the peace necessary for learning to take place.
Some desperate families, however, claim they have applied for many bursaries or scholarships a number of years to no avail.
One weakness that sticks out like a sore thumb is the interference of local leaders and politicians who bybass the needy cases.
Knowledge and education should be accessible to everyone so that the young generation is able to address future challenges through strategic transformation. This is one of the reasons many stakeholders and education experts think bursaries should go beyond the ‘bright and needy’ vetting criterion if all were to acquire basic education.
While that is a challenge due to the perennial lack of funds, the government ought to show the willingness so that more benefactors, including the UN, the World Bank and other private players, can come in to support the cause.
According to Unesco, education is not a privilege, it is a basic human right. It is unfair, therefore, to deny the young person this right because of the parent’s shortcomings. To undo this injustice, equitable access is a requirement so that the ‘basic right’ does not just remain a buzz expression.
Some parents are frighteningly poor and cannot afford even the most basic needs. In such circumstances, the nation ought to ensure none is left behind in the quest for enlightenment.
But the burasry kitty requires safeguarding with a management that is watertight. And people who can sit on such boards are available and are known, as few as they are.
Apart from political meddling, identifying the needy students has suffered from narrow clan politics, nepotism, and bribery.
Negative forces have infiltrated bursary offices, giving way to undeserving cases to turn them into cash cows.This is not just unacceptable, it is shameful.
Bursary offices ought to reform. Complacency and corruption hurt life. One of the reforms that should be implemented is setting the minimum allocation, and not shortchanging the applicants who expect a particular amount but get a half or a quarter, indeed a drop in the ocean that exposes them to a bumpy school life or dropping out.
Without a doubt, a well managed bursary plan is a ticket to a beautiful and meaningful tomorrow. Let the Ministry of Education give it a try.
