“Fins to Swim Scholarship Program” offers hope to the Needy

Homa Bay County,

Saturday, January 13, 2024,

KNA by Sitna Omar

At least 240 needy students from Homa Bay County will further their education courtesy of the area governor’s Gladys Wanga ‘Fins to Swim’ scholarship program.

The students who are from underprivileged families went home with full shopping including metallic boxes, toiletries, mattresses, blankets, bedsheets, stationeries and buckets besides full secondary school tuition fees.

They were drawn from the 40 wards across the county with each ward producing six student beneficiaries.

Governor Gladys Wanga said the scholarship program was initiated to bridge the gap of students to others in the county to make Homa Bay a competitor and a number one county by investing majorly in the education of the children.

The objective of the programme is to provide equal opportunity to bright and disadvantaged students who scored 350 marks and above in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.

It is therefore intended to instill hope in the students by creating equality and a future hub of professionals for the betterment of the county.

“We realized that the bursaries we give are not enough because there are students who are not able to raise anything to complement the bursaries and that is how Fins to Swim was conceived to cater for all of their needs besides tuition fees,” she said.

The governor who spoke Friday reiterated the scholarship program reflects the county’s dedication and commitment towards education as a way of unlocking potential in learners by allowing them to pursue their dreams. Wanga however asked the students to study hard and focus on their academics by avoiding distractions and peer pressure.

“It is our responsibility to put you under immense pressure to perform to the level of your ability. Be resilient in your studies and work hard as we are relying on you to make us proud as a county,” she insisted.

She further gave a warning to students who will fail to perform well beyond grade B- (Minus) saying that they will be dropped out of the program to give a chance to other students who would be deserving of the scholarship.

These students are however not the only ones who have received support in their education as recently, the governor had concluded a 10-day ward-based bursary distribution drive all over the county that saw more students being awarded with bursaries.

“The county-wide exercise has seen us meet and engage both students and their parents by supporting them with the much-needed bursaries. We launched a shs. 215 million funds that targeted students from high school, colleges, and universities,” Wanga noted.

The programme which commenced on December 28, was expected to reach 32, 000 high school students and 1200 Vocational Training College students through ‘GENOWA Fundi Mang’ula Scholarship and 240 students under the Fins To Swim Scholarship program.

Courtesy; KNA