Students from Mombasa who dropped out of school due to lack of school fees have every reason to smile after the county government came to their rescue on Saturday.
The county government through the Education ministry issued over Sh100 million worth of bursaries to students from the county undertaking studies within the East African Community region.
At an event presided over by Cord leader Raila Odinga and Governor Hassan Joho, the devolved unit gave out Sh105,330,000 to over 14,000 students enrolled for studies in 1,598 institutions in East Africa.
Among the beneficiaries are 104 students with special needs, 9,158 secondary school students, 2,368 college students and 1,770 university students.
From the amount disbursed, every student enrolled for the bursary programme will receive on average Sh7,000 as tuition.
The development offers relief to students from a region whose performance in national examinations has been unimpressive with a high school drop out rate.
A 2014 study by International Journal for Education and Research found out that over 50 per cent of students who drop out of school in Mombasa do so because of lack of school fees accruing from high poverty levels.
"We will continue to work closely with parents the education stakeholders to ensure every child in Mombasa County remains in school," Joho said during the event.
"As a county government, our call to every child and every parent is that you put education first."