Isiolo County Government will allocate more funds to the education sector in order to improve the standards of education in the area.
Governor Mohamed Kuti said his government has set aside Sh40 million for bursaries to assist learners from poor backgrounds.
He stated his administration’s commitment to uplift the education standards and performance in national examinations noting there would be continued increase in the allocation to enable more students to benefit.
Dr Kuti said that partnering with United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) had enabled the County government to employ about 300 ECDE teachers and build 54 classrooms besides feeding basic education learners in the county.
He elaborated that partnering with stakeholders in the education sector was aimed at uplifting the standards in the area and ensure all students transit to higher levels of learning.
He made the remarks yesterday during an education conference which was organized by the county government for all stakeholders in the area.
The stakeholders stressed the need to review the process of distributing bursaries in the county saying the NG-CDF and County government practice did not benefit the needy students.
They urged the bursary committees to carry out thorough vetting of the beneficiaries before allocating the funds.
Isiolo Parents Association Chair Ismael Galma criticized the current practice saying it lacked clear structures to ensure transparency and accountability.
Mr. Galma urged the bursary committees to borrow a leaf from the banks that visit even the homes of the applicants to assess them and rank them according to the poverty at the family level.
He said that the committees should have teachers, parents and trade unionists that are able to rank the beneficiaries without vested interests.
He said that wide representation will ensure that there were no students to be locked out of school from the area for lack of fees.
By David Nduro
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