Help students from poor families to join Form one

Form One admission exercise at Muruguru High School in Nyeri on January 6, 2023. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

The 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates started reporting to Form One yesterday countrywide.

Unfortunately, as they as the over one million students started their new academic journey, the fate of thousands of their colleagues, mostly from poor backgrounds, hung in the balance due to lack of school fees.

They included students who performed extremely well in the national examination, some whose plight was highlighted by The Standard on Monday.

It is heart-rending that a student can work extremely hard so as they can join their dream schools - some of the most coveted in the country - but fail to do so due to lack of money.

Such students need help to achieve their dreams. The 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school will remain a pipe dream if such students fail to get help to join secondary school.

It is commendable that some companies and even individual well-wishers have already sponsored some needy students to join Form One.

However, much more needs to be done to ensure the many other students still stuck at home due to lack of money also achieve their dream.

For that reason, more companies and even individuals should borrow a leaf from their peers and volunteer to bail out stranded students.

Importantly, Members of Parliament should do what is expected of them by directing the National Government Constituencies Development Fund monies, released to them recently by the national government following their protests during their induction retreat in Mombasa, to bursaries for needy students.

Students who might not be lucky to get enough funds to study in schools of their dreams after scoring high marks should consider joining day schools as the monetary requirements there are much lower. In any case, some of the students who performed extremely well in last year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education came from day schools.