KCB Foundation will provide full scholarships to 251 University students this year.
The Group Director Marketing, Corporate Affairs & Citizenship, Rosalind Gichuru commissioned this group of students who will be joining various tertiary institutions on Aug 26, 2022, during an event at KCB Leadership Center. The event was graced by hundreds of KCB Education scholarship Alumni and mentors from across the country.
During her speech, Gichuru said, “The presence of hundreds of our scholarship alumni here this morning is a testament to the impact of the KCB scholarship programme in Kenya. We believe that education plays a pivotal role in alleviating poverty and generating positive lasting change and have so far supported 3,550 students.”
Read: Equity Bank leadership programme targets Uganda’s top performing scholars
“This translates to about KShs. 926M paid in fees. We are proud of our beneficiaries, who have recorded an impressive 99% Secondary School Completion Rate and 83% Transition to University. We are encouraged to continue offering support to youths across the nation, enabling them to afford good education and consequently, better livelihoods,” she added.
KCB Foundation launched its scholarship programme in 2007 to support bright students through their high school education. The KCB high school scholarship package would provide comprehensive support from tuition for all four years, personal effects, learning materials, school uniforms, transport to and from school, termly school-based mentorship sessions with a KCB staff and an annual group mentorship and networking with fellow scholars, among others.
Apprenticeship programme
Over the years, however, KCB Foundation has scaled up the scholarship package to broaden the impact of the programme. Following an impressive performance by the 2020 scholarship class, we rolled out an annual apprenticeship programme that provides the top 50 students with an opportunity for a three-month apprenticeship annually, commencing with the 2020 KCSE class. We also expanded the programme to provide university scholarships for the top 50 performers.
This comes following increased investment in KShs. 252M has enabled the foundation to enrol and support 1,000 bright learners through high school. This more than quadruples the number of beneficiaries from the original annual 240 students that were supported.
“We also have plans to extend the university scholarship package to cater to the tertiary education for all the 1,000 beneficiaries every year”, noted Gichuru.
The recruitment of the 1,000 learners follows an application and recruitment process carried out nationally, bringing the total number of beneficiaries in the programme to 3537.
The 2022 class will form the 15th cohort of the scholar’s programme, with 960 students currently in school.
The programme actively and intentionally supports marginalized, underserved, minorities, and vulnerable students to access education in all 47 counties.
Ultimately, the scholars’ programme aims to increase the transition rate from primary to secondary schools and aid in the attainment of every one of the 17 sustainable development goals.
By investing in wholesome education and transition to university, the foundation enables the youth to take charge of their future and livelihoods. “Ultimately, we’re playing our part towards Kenya experiencing a boost in economic growth resulting from the ‘dividend’ of a well-equipped and economically independent youth” she added.
Laptops
Further, earlier in March 2022, KCB Foundation issued 50 laptops to university students under its scholarship programme.
The laptops are part of the enhancement to the programme launched last year that saw the Foundation revamp its scholarship programme to incorporate University scholarships in its portfolio. This is in addition to the existing high school scholarship programme that will see it spend over KShs. 2.8 Billion over the next ten years in the Education pillar.
The University Scholarship Programme will facilitate a smooth transition for the top performers who attain a mean grade of A and A- and the best 2 students living with disabilities each year from the KCB Foundation High School programme.
“The laptops are part of a deliberate effort by the Foundation to enable the scholars to effectively undertake their schoolwork as well as access their virtual class lessons,” said Gichuru.
“We want our Scholars to have an equitable opportunity by continuing to access their class courses and complete their assignments on time. With many of them coming from marginalized communities, access to a laptop for purposes of following the classroom lessons or undertaking assignments was going to be a big challenge,” she added.
This follows the KCB Foundation annual apprenticeship programme that was introduced in May, where the top 50 from their 2020 high school scholarship cohort got a three-month apprenticeship at their local KCB Bank branch.
The scholarship programme started 14 years ago with the aim of supporting efforts to increase the transition rate from primary to secondary school. Of the 240 students supported annually from across Kenya, 40 of them are Persons with Disability by providing a full four-year scholarship in public schools catering for school fees, stationery, and uniforms. Additionally, each of the students is assigned a mentor from their local KCB Bank home branch for quarterly one-on-one mentorship sessions.
Out of 240 scholars sponsored last year, 77 per cent of them attained a mean grade of C and above, while 48 students recorded a mean grade of A and A–(minus).
