Scrap constituency bursaries and give funds to schools.

The government has been asked to abolish constituency bursaries and instead channel the funds directly to schools.This way it would be much easier for school managers to identify needy learners for assistance, Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya said, adding that the release of the funds at constituency level had been skewed.Mr Oparanya said the bureaucracy involved in applying for the bursary at education offices and the political interference involved at the constituency level had barred many deserving cases from benefiting.Addressing education stakeholders at Butere Girls in Kakamega County, the minister also argued that the funds released to constituencies were too little to meet the growing list of beneficiaries.“The amount of money available for the bursaries is just a drop in the ocean and unless we pool all of the money together and release it through the institutions, it will not be easy for the government to achieve the targeted goals,” he said.In Butere constituency alone, he noted, more than 3,000 bursary applications were received but only a few students were lucky to be awarded between Sh15,000 and Sh8,000.However, the Planning minister said the government was focused on achieving Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through making education accessible to all...Click here