Meru County students benefit from Sh500,000 library

MERU, KENYA: Students from Meru County will now benefit from access to learning material with the refurbishment of a library at Igandene Secondary School. 

The library, worth Sh500,000, has been stocked with books as well as furniture by the KCB Foundation as part of its My School My Community initiative. The project is part of the wider KCB Foundation education programme that seeks to improve access and quality of education for needy students through support for scholarships, learning materials and construction of classrooms. 

Speaking at the commissioning of the refurbished library, Pauline Ndonga, the KCB Foundation Program Manager said the foundation will continue investing in the improvement of access and quality of education for institutions across the country, specifically those in rural areas. 

“With more than 70 per cent of Kenya’s population living in rural areas, access to basic education is a challenge. With poor infrastructure or a complete lack of it, most children living in rural areas are likely not to acquire basic education,” she added. 

The refurbished library will enable the students access a wide range of books and multimedia resources to aid in learning and teaching. The library will also serve the neighboring schools and its community. 

“The new library will promote and encourage a reading culture not only in this school but as well as the community. We want to motivate students towards independent reading,” stated the Principal at Igandene Secondary School, Mr. John Nyagah. 

KCB Foundation this year invested Kshs78 million to support students across Kenya benefit from scholarships, access to learning materials and improved infrastructure in schools.              

40 per cent of the annual Foundation budget goes directly to the education sector while the remaining supports the many other projects like rehabilitation of school infrastructures and provision of learning materials. Since the inception of the KCB Foundation scholarship program in 2011, over 800 students have benefited from the scholarship scheme.