NAIROBI: Government set to increase national schools, President Kibaki says

                 His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of the Republic of Kenya

The Government has finalized plans to upgrade some provincial schools at the county level to become national schools to cater for more high performers in the country, President Mwai Kibaki said yesterday.
Besides the transformation and support of the selected provincial schools to national level, the President observed, secondary schools of excellence in every constituency are being created under the new economic stimulus package.
President Kibaki made these remarks at Kenyatta International Conference Centre where he officially launched the innovative High School Scholarship and Leadership Development program funded by the Equity Bank Group and the MasterCard Foundation.
The Head of State cited the implementation of the free secondary school tuition programme and development of day schools, the provision of a capital grant of Kshs 10,265 per student per year to public secondary schools and the facilitation of re-entry of girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy and early or forced marriages as some of the notable reforms that have boosted the education sector.
At the national level, President Kibaki said the Government is expanding the capacity of polytechnics and will be creating 13 additional national polytechnics while at the local level there is heavy investment in youth polytechnics through provision of free tuition and recruitment of an additional 2,000 tutors which is currently underway.
Government reforms in the education sector, the President noted, have started paying dividends with the increase in the number of students joining the country’s learning institutions at different levels.
President Kibaki specifically pointed out that due to his Government’s interventions, a record 539,792 students, will be joining form one this year. Majority of these students are among the first batch of those who had enjoyed 8 continuous years of free primary education the Government has been implementing since 2003.
"This is the highest number of students enrolling in form one, in our nation’s history. I wish to thank all those who have made this possible," the President said.
The President said in order to meet the increased demand, enhance access and quality, the education sector in Kenya has undergone several fundamental reforms including the integration of secondary education as part of basic education.
"You are also aware that the Government recently invested 4.2 billion shillings in the National Youth Service. This will greatly enhance the ability of the service, to train our youth while additional construction equipment will enable our youth access firsthand practical and technical experience," the President said.
Saying all these investments are for the benefit of the country’s youth, the President reassured that his Government will continue to give top priority to their needs.
President Kibaki, however, expressed concern that girls, on average, continue to perform poorly in core subjects like mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology which are critical in providing them with access to careers in science and technology.
"As a country we must do more to train our girls to perform better in these subjects. This is in line with our policy framework which focuses on access, equity, quality and relevance," President Kibaki emphasized.
The President also reminded the youth that for them to take their rightful leadership roles in the society, they must remain focused and have a visionary attitude on what they want to achieve in life.
In this regard, President Kibaki said they must avoid vices that negatively impact on their education which include drug and substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, early marriages and child labor.
The Head of State commended Equity Bank Group and the MasterCard Foundation for the high school scholarship and leadership development program which, he said, is in tandem with the Government’s policy of establishing partnerships that help more young people access secondary education.
Said the President: "I am pleased to note, that this programme also targets at raising the next generation of leaders, by empowering the youth through helping them develop leadership skills and robust networks."
The President encouraged recipients of the scholarships to take full advantage of the opportunity that has been offered to them by working hard and ensuring that they excel in all areas of their lives.
Calling on other organizations to support the programme, the Head of State said the sponsorship would go along way in changing the lives of children from less privileged backgrounds.
In his address, Education Minister Prof. Sam Ongeri defended the new form one selection criteria, saying the policy shift ensured social equity by bringing on board poor children from all corners of the country in the national schools.
Prof. Ongeri emphasized that all candidates selected to join national, provincial, district and private secondary schools are expected to report for lessons by 31st of this month.
Stressing that the free primary education programme had enabled many children from poor families enroll to for basic education, the Minister assured of accountability in the use of public funds released by the Government and development partners.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the MasterCard Foundation, Ms Reeta Roy thanked President Kibaki for his visionary leadership in establishing the free primary school education programme in the country eight years ago.
Through the FPE programme, Ms Roy said, thousands of bright children from poor families accessed basic education and excelled to qualify for sponsorship under the Equity Group and MasterCard Foundations scholarships.
The MasterCard Foundation C.E.O stressed the foundation’s commitment to work with Equity bank and other like minded partners to provide secondary students with comprehensive scholarship support to enable them pursue higher education and transform their lives.
Ms. Roy said the programme also delivers leadership development, career guidance and mentoring to the sponsored students while serving as a model for other potential funders of education scholarships.
During the launch also attended by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, President Kibaki received a cheque of US$ 50 million programme sponsorship from the Equity Group/The MasterCard Foundations.
Other speakers included the UKaid representative and Head, DFID Kenya and Somalia Mr. Alistair Fernie, The chairman of Equity Bank Peter Munga and his Chief Executive officer who is also the Chairman Equity Group Foundation Dr. James Mwangi.
In attendance were several cabinet ministers, Assistant Ministers, the Governor of Central bank Prof Njuguna Ndung’u and senior government and banking sector officials.