Bad News To Students Under County Scholarship As Bungoma Schools Threaten Them Over Unpaid Fees
Several schools in Bungoma have threatened to reject learners who are under county scholarship due to unpaid fees.
The Bungoma County government has been blamed for not submitting school fees for their scholarship program that covers around 7,000 Form one students.
The Chief Officer for Education and Vocational Training Rose Situma has reported that the available funds are not enough to for the program.
Situma through a letter dated 18th April 2022 requested financial advice from the Chief Officer of Finance.
According to the section of the letter, the 7,000 students in Form 1 are together with the continuing 4,500 who are under the scholarship program requiring funds amounting to around Kshs. 444 million to run the program. At the moment, the county government has only Kshs. 60 million for the scholarship.
The purpose of the correspondence was to try and find a way forward because the pressure is only piling up among parents and even schools.
On the other hand, the county assembly summoned Education Executive Betty Manyeku more than three times to discuss the issue and try to find a solution. Report has it that Manyeku has declined all those summons.
The Budget and Appropriations Committee has laid a blame on the poor implementation of the county scholarship on the executive, led by Governor Wycliffe Wangamati.
“It is not right for the governor to award scholarships beyond the amount budgeted for the same”, Committee’s Chairperson Jack Wambulwa said.
The committee expressed regret that many students enrolled in the scholarship could be turned away from their schools due to non-payment.
“Where will they get the funds from yet the scholarships issued are more than the amount allocated?” wondered Wambulwa.
Many parents whose children benefit from the program expressed fear over their children being potentially turned away due to fees arrears.
According to the parents, that schools are no longer accepting learners based on just promissory notes.
Several parents have reported that their children had been told to pay the fees arrears.
