Kisii county parents from needy backgrounds have been urged to apply for bursaries from the Ward Development Fund (WDF) to fund their children’s education.
Speaking on Monday at Mobamba Secondary school in Kiamokama ward, Nyaribari Masaba Sub-county during a prize giving ceremony, Governor James Ongwae said the kitty aims at supporting children from vulnerable grounds to have an opportunity of enrolling for education.
Governor Ongwae however, warned parents and students against double application for the bursaries, noting that needy cases are many.
“I encourage parents to apply bursaries for their children but only once. If one has benefited from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), they should not apply again for the WDF because there are so many people who are in dire need for help,” warned Ongwae.
On his side, area ward representative Kennedy Mainya also noted that the main challenge they are experiencing in allocation of the funds is few people applying for the funds, and some of those who apply, do double application for the same.
He has asked residents to be genuine so that there is fair allocation of the funds to enable students from the area to realize their education aims.
“Some people apply twice in two different wards, which becomes a great challenge to us. I ask them to be fair enough by applying once so that others can also benefit from the kitty is not enough for all people to get,” appealed Mainya.
Nevertheless, he lauded the county government for increasing the funds from Sh1 million in the last financial year, to Sh3 million in the year 2015/2016, saying it is a great boost to improve education standards through high enrollment in various wards of the county.
The MCA also asked governor Ongwae to increase the funding to Sh5 million as he promised, in order to support a good number of needy cases in the wards.
“There are so many people who are in great poverty and therefore supporting them is the only way we can reduce the gap in our county. Therefore, I ask our governor to live by his promise and increase the funds to Sh5 million in order to reach and support a good number,” said Mainya.