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2,100 Students Benefit From Thika Constituency Bursaries

Ms. Alice presenting a cheque to one of the beneficiaries from Mount Kenya University.
Thika Town Constituency has disbursed Sh. 14 million in bursaries to benefit needy students in both secondary and tertiary institutions. 

Area MP Ms. Alice Wambui Ng'ang'a revealed this as she awarded bursaries to 2,100 students. She said that all the beneficiaries were awarded on merit, with the most needy and vulnerable being given priority. Those in boarding schools each received Sh. 8,000, Sh. 2,000 for day scholars as those under Thika Education Trust Fund (Theftu), who are usually fully sponsored, received Sh. 30,000 each.

The balance of about Sh. 6 million will be disbursed next term to benefit Form Ones and those who missed out on this first batch due to various reasons. 

"We gave out Kshs.14 million to poor and bright students as bursary. We had advertised for these bursary everywhere including churches, community events as well as posting announcements in our wards. The vetting process was done in a very open manner through representatives selected from every ward and working in harmony with chiefs and their assistance to ensure transparency in the bursary allocation," she said.

She pointed out that every student received the allocation depending on the need of each case and lauded parents for their cooperation with regards to the application and participation. She however requested those who missed out to be patient as that was the best her office could manage.

The bursaries included monies from CDF allocation together with those derived from Theftu harambees. Theftu is Madam Alice's  flagship project in aid of  Post-Secondary Education Bursaries to benefit poor, needy and bright students. She toyed with the idea when she realised that the students' demands had exceeded the CDF bursary kitty. It has seen quite a number of girls get scholarship into Thika Girls High School which now is in its second year. Ms. Alice also revealed that, through her intervention, 15 students had been able to benefit for Equity Bank's 'Wings To Fly' scholarship programme.

On development of educational infrastructure, Thika CDF kitty had managed to set up a laboratory in Ndula Secondary School and another one in Gatuanyaga Secondary School with the latter also benefiting from a new class. Both Gatuanyaga and Kimuchu Primary Schools have benefited from a consignment of a hundred desks.

St. Patricks Primary School in Hospital Ward will get some face-lift to improve the learning environment for the pupils. Thika CDF has also set aside money to provide Joytown Primary School with facilities to ease mobility among the pupils.

Still on infrastructure, pupils in Matathia Primary School in Thika East now enjoy the new road that was constructed to ease their accessibility to school. They now just make 2km to school as opposed to the previous 10km, something that has impacted positively to education. The MP also plans to add more classroom to the school to arrest the congestion in classes. 

Dotting mothers, dedicated fathers and eager youths braved the unforgiving sun on Monday to attend the fete at the Thika Sub-County Stadium.

A recent survey established that on average, 1,200 students in every constituency depend on CDF bursaries to see them through secondary school, college and university.

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