Parents in Mbeere North Constituency, Embu County, have a reason to smile, as the area Member of Parliament Leonard Wa Muthende begins implementing free-day secondary education.
The initiative was one of the key campaign promises by the MP before the parliamentary by-election held on November 27 last year that saw him elected.
Wa Muthende had promised to eliminate tuition fees for all 46-day secondary students in the constituency once in office, in line with attainment of universal basic education.
“We want children of Mbeere North to learn without worrying about school fees, which will also free up money spent by parents on education to go to other uses,” he said.
Speaking when disbursing cheques amounting to over Sh500,000 to school heads, the MP underscored the importance of education as a critical tool in breaking the cycle of poverty in the area that is classified as semi-arid.
“Our region is not endowed with good climatic conditions for agricultural activities like other areas and education offers a crucial pathway out of the cycle of intergenerational poverty,” he stated.
Wa Muthende said besides relieving parents of education financial burden, the program also seeks to increase enrollment by ensuring no child fails to join or drops out of school for lack of fees.
Additionally, the MP said he is also running a feeding program alongside the initiative that will ensure learners get free lunch to improve retention and learning outcomes.
At the same time, Wa Muthende announced plans to initiate a program of providing incentives to top-performing learners and teachers such as sponsored trips and cash rewards.
“We want to see an improvement in education in Mbeere North to ensure at least 60 percent of our students attain university entry grades,” he said.
Parents and school heads hailed the initiative as transformative in ensuring universal access to education by all children in the region.
A local parent, Catherine Wangari could not hide her joy and commended the MP for keeping his promise, saying they can now breathe a sigh of relief, knowing to well that one of their heaviest burdens had been taken care of.
“Our work now is to ensure no child fails to go to school as a result of lack of fees,” she said.
St. Andrews Ngoche Secondary School Principal Nahashon Njeru said the initiative will ensure local schools have adequate funds to run other programs and also end the culture of sending learners away for fees.
By Samuel Waititu
