Educational Quality

18,000 needy students to benefit from government scholarship

Noticias

Africa/Kenya/15-12-2019/Author(a): Christine Muchira/Source: www.kbc.co.ke

By: Christine Muchira

Education Cabinet Secretary, Prof George Magoha, says 9,000 Form One Students to benefit from Elimu Scholarship Programme in 2020.

The Ministry of Education has opened applications for the inaugural 2020 Elimu Scholarship Programme targeting 9,000 beneficiaries.

Eligible 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) Examination candidates have until December 16, 2019 to apply for the scholarships that are funded by the Ministry of Education with support from the World Bank. They will be implemented through the Equity Group Foundation.

The Elimu Scholarship Programme, funded through the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP), will benefit candidates from 110 targeted Sub-Counties and fifteen urban centres with informal settlements.

Announcing the start of the Elimu Scholarship, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha said the programme will boost the Government’s 100 per cent transition policy that was introduced last year.

“We are determined to utilize the Sh3 billion scholarship programme to further ensure that all the needy and vulnerable 2019 KCPE candidates are supported to gain admission to schools of their choice,” Prof Magoha said.

Equity Group Foundation Executive Chairman Dr. James Mwangi said the Foundation will ensure the selection is thorough and based on merit.

“Equity will deploy its massive infrastructure and its technical capacity to successfully implement the Elimu scholarship programme on behalf of the Ministry of Education in the selection of 18,000 needy beneficiaries of the Elimu Scholarship Programme over the next two years,” he said.

This year, Dr.  Mwangi said 9,000 Elimu Scholarship Programme beneficiaries will be selected while 1,125 beneficiaries will be picked under the Wings to Fly Programme, bringing the total number of scholarships to 10,125 this year.

“We welcome the Elimu Scholarship Programme as it widens the opportunities for more children to access secondary school education and increase their opportunities of a better future for themselves, their families and communities. We have seen the tremendous transformational opportunities that the Wings to Fly program has had on the beneficiaries with majority transitioning to universities locally and across the world including Ivy League schools.”

Under the programme, poor and vulnerable children from financially constrained backgrounds and who attained 280 marks and above in 2019 KCPE, will be considered. For affirmative action, candidates who are Orphans and/or from Vulnerable Communities and those with special needs and disabilities who attained below 280 marks may be considered.

Only candidates who sat for KCPE examinations in 2019 from public primary schools in the targeted areas will be eligible to apply for the inaugural cohort of 9,000 scholarships tenable in 2020.

The 110 targeted Sub-Counties are as per the National Government Administrative areas that existed in the year 2015. The list of the targeted Sub-counties and the fifteen urban centres with informal settlements can be accessed through the Ministry of Education and Equity Group Foundation websites; www.education.go.ke and https://egfdmis.equitybank.co.ke/register_elimu

Applicants of the Elimu Scholarship Programme must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. Candidates with special needs and disabilities (Physical, Hearing and Visual Impairments, Autism, Albinism, Learning Disabilities and Others); or

Orphans and vulnerable children; or

Candidates from vulnerable communities in the target Sub-Counties; or

Candidates from urban centres with informal settlements; or

Candidates:

  1. whose parents/guardians are living with disabilities that have compromised their ability to meet the financial obligations of their children
  2. whose families are affected by HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses with debilitating effects that could render parents and guardians destitute and unable to fend for their families
  3. whose families are affected by extreme poverty rendering them unable to educate their children
  4. Who have suffered from neglect, abuse and have no support to continue with their education.

Interested applicants are advised to collect the scholarship application forms from the nearest Equity Bank Branch or Equity Bank Agent. Application forms can also be downloaded from the Ministry of Education and Equity Group Foundation websites; www.education.go.ke and https://egfdmis.equitybank.co.ke/register_elimu

Duly completed application forms and supporting documents should be submitted to the nearest Equity Bank Branch by 16th December 2019. Shortlisted candidates accompanied by parents/guardians will be invited for interviews which will be conducted by the Community Scholarship Advisory Committees.

The scholarship caters for School fees, transport to and from school, learning materials and School kit for the beneficiaries for the four-year education period. Please note that ONLY the candidates who meet the requirements will be considered for the scholarship. Members of the public are urged to share this information widely.

Any grievances regarding the scholarship programme are to be addressed to: elimu@equitygroupfoundation.com  or elimu@education.go.ke

While the Wings to Fly programme is targeting students who scored at least 350 marks in the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), the Elimu Scholarship Programme cut off mark is 280 marks except in regions with vulnerable and marginalised communities and for children with disabilities where the cut off can be lowered.

The applications will be reviewed, and only shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews by the respective scholarship selection boards. The number of boards has been increased to 207 from 119 to adequately cater for the increased numbers.

The boards comprise of at least 13 local community stakeholders including local administrative leaders, education officials, Equity Agent representatives, Vulnerable and marginalized communities representatives, religious and community leaders in the County.

Each board is chaired by the Deputy County Commissioner or the Sub-County Education Officer and coordinated by the respective Equity Bank Branch Managers.

Speaking on the application process, Dr. Mwangi urged administrative leaders and community leaders to use their offices to create awareness on the scholarships to ensure all eligible needy children take advantage of the opportunity. “I appeal to religious leaders to use church and mosque services to make announcements on the ongoing application process. Let all Kenyans of goodwill show their care by reaching out to potential candidates who can benefit from these scholarships,” he added.

The Wings to Fly programme which is now in its 11thyear supports bright but economically challenged pupils, who would otherwise not be able to join secondary school due to financial constraints. This is through funding from Equity Group, MasterCard Foundation and German Government through KfW.

The scholarship caters for tuition and boarding fees, books, uniform, and transport to and from school as well as pocket money for the four years of secondary school. To date, 16,168 scholars have benefitted from this programme.

Last year, the Equity Group Foundation received more than 26,000 applications from needy students who sat for their 2018 KCPE examinations and were unable to finance their secondary school educatio.

Source: https://www.kbc.co.ke/18000-needy-students-government-scholarship/

Image:  Rolf Dobberstein en Pixabay 

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UNESCO: Quick Guide to Education Indicators for SDG 4

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Reseña:
Instituto de Estadística de la UNESCO | Guía rápida de indicadores de educación para SDG 4
¿Qué es esta guía?

Esta guía sirve como referencia rápida sobre cómo monitorear el progreso hacia el Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 4 (ODS 4) sobre educación de calidad. Proporciona explicaciones básicas de los objetivos del ODS 4, sus indicadores, cómo son creado y dónde encontrar la información necesaria para estos indicadores

UNESCO Institute for Statistics | Quick Guide to Education Indicators for SDG 4
3
What is this guide?
This guide serves as a quick reference on how to monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on quality education. It provides basic explanations of SDG 4 targets, their indicators, how they are created and where to find the information needed for these indicators.
Table of contents

Download: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/quick-guide-education-indicators-sdg4-2018-en.pdf

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Tanzania: Govt to Organize Nation-Wide Debate On Education, Minister Reveals

Noticias

Tanzania/April 28, 2018/Allafrica

Resumen: El gobierno de Tanzania planea organizar un debate a nivel nacional con las partes interesadas en la educación para discutir posibles formas de mejorar el sector.

The Tanzania government is planning to organize a nation-wide debate with stakeholders in education to discuss possible ways to improve the sector.

This was said in Parliament on Wednesday, April 25, by the deputy minister of State in the President’s Office who is responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), Joseph Kakunda.

Mr Kakunda was responding to a supplementary question that was raised by the Vunjo constituency member of Parliament on the NCCR- Mageuzi ticket, Mr James Mbatia, who sought to know the government’s plan to engage stakeholders in efforts to earnestly improve education in Tanzania.

«Mr Mbatia has raised a valid observation, and we are working on it. His views on this are in line with those of former President Benjamin Mkapa,» the deputy State minister said.

Fuente: http://allafrica.com/stories/201804260155.html

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United States: DeVos’s ineptitude demonstrates how little America cares for its public schools

Noticias

United States / March 24, 2018/Dailycampus

Resumen: Una reciente entrevista de 60 minutos con la Secretaria de Educación, Betsy DeVos, reveló cuán inadecuado es el Secretario para el puesto. DeVos, entrevistado por Lesley Stahl, no respondió varias preguntas, incluso sobre escuelas en su estado natal de Michigan. Por ejemplo, cuando se le preguntó si las escuelas de Michigan habían mejorado debido a las escuelas charter, DeVos no pudo responder. Ella también admitió que no ha visitado escuelas de bajo rendimiento. La ignorancia y la completa falta de preparación mostrada por DeVos durante su entrevista son simplemente inaceptables para un Secretario de Educación.

A recent 60 Minutes interview featuring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos revealed just how unfit the Secretary is for the position. DeVos, interviewed by Lesley Stahl, failed to answer several questions, including ones regarding schools within her home state of Michigan. For instance, when asked whether Michigan’s schools have improved due to charter schools, DeVos was unable to answer. She also admitted that she has not visited underperforming schools. The ignorance and complete lack of preparation displayed by DeVos during her interview is simply unacceptable for an Education Secretary.

Numerous scholars have also expressed disappointment with DeVos; Claire Smrekar, a professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University, told The Atlantic that DeVos’s interview “demonstrates…an appalling lack of understanding of some public fundamental principles and practices related to public education. America’s students deserve much better than this. Public education is one of the most important issues that we face today, and proper leadership is required to navigate America through the difficult problem of improving schools. The fact that the Trump administration nominated someone so unqualified for this job indicates that they do not care about improving public education; they only care about undermining public schools in favor of charter/private schools.

Secretary DeVos’s main idea for improving education in the United States is to use public funds on charter and private schools instead of using funds to improve public education. A Washington Post article from early Thursday morning reveals that DeVos wanted to cut funding for programs that help kids in need and programs that help low income students reach college in order to procure $1 billion to fund charter, magnet and private schools. This is misguided because public schools are the cornerstone of American education; everyone has access to them, and purposefully keeping funds from them in order to favor institutions which only wealthier students are able to attend means that students from low income families are especially harmed. Thankfully, Congress rejected DeVos’s budget plan and instead chose to support increasing funding to her department by $3.9 billion.

Senator Patty Murray commented on DeVos’s ideas, saying “After more than a year on the job, I would have hoped Secretary DeVos would have learned by now that her extreme ideas to privatize our nation’s public schools and dismantle the Department of Education do not have support among parents or in Congress”; it is hopeful that Congress came together to reject DeVos’s radical ideas on education and that they still have faith in America’s public school system. Privatizing schools in America is not the solution to providing quality education to everyone; education should remain public and free for all students. Education is a right, not a privilege, and low income students should not be at a disadvantage. The fact that DeVos wanted to end programs that help low income students achieve their college goals in favor of using public funds for charter/private schools that are for wealthier students is inexcusable, and against the American Dream. All students in America should have an equal opportunity to achieve success, and education is crucial to that.

Charter schools are not even necessarily better than their public counterparts. In DeVos’s home state of Michigan, for example (which has more charter schools than any other state), charter schools underperform,with English scores from students between third and eighth grades dropping. If the state with the highest number of charter schools has schools that underperform, then perhaps they are not all that different from public schools after all. If this is the case, ripping funding away from public schools is not justified. Thus, keeping education a public institution is necessary. If Betsy DeVos really wants to help American students, she must realize this.

Fuente: http://dailycampus.com/stories/2018/3/23/devoss-ineptitude-demonstrates-how-little-america-cares-for-its-public-schools

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