Two hundred and five students are assured of reporting to their first year of tertiary education supported by a Kshs—12 million donation from Prudential through its community investment arm, Prudence Foundation.
The donation, presented to the Kenya Education Fund today at the Oloolaiser National School in Ngong, Kajiado County, was drawn from Prudential’s Covid Recovery Fund. It will finance the first year of tertiary learning every year, starting this year, with beneficiaries drawn from around the country for the next three years. The beneficiaries will include students from financially disadvantaged households and those whose parents and guardians suffered a loss of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 Recovery Fund was initiated by Prudential in 2020 to support approved charitable and community projects that address the immediate social and economic impacts of the pandemic. Education was among the worst affected sectors in Kenya, as students stayed out of school for nearly seven months and, upon reopening, had to contend with adjusted calendars. Meanwhile, many families struggled to keep their children in school following layoffs, furloughs, and company closures. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the impact of climate change further worsen the situation. Over 2 million students aged 4 – 17 have been out of school since 2021, which is projected to increase in the coming days.
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Against this background, Prudential sought to alleviate the pain for students joining tertiary institutions, whose admission is relatively costlier than the formative school levels.
“Every year, over 200,000 students qualify for placement in universities and other tertiary education institutions, but thousands of these brilliant students miss out on the opportunity due to poverty. It is unfortunate for students to struggle through primary and secondary school education, and just when they are about to join college –
where many lives are transformed – they meet financial roadblocks that prevent them from proceeding. The situation worsened after the Covid pandemic, with many breadwinners losing their livelihoods. At Prudential, we found this to be a disheartening situation. That is why we have been teaming up with Kenya Education Fund to support some of these needy cases,” Said Prudential Kenya CEO Gwen Kinisu.
Prudential has an ongoing partnership with the KEF that started back in 2014. This partnership has seen over 180 students receive full secondary and university education scholarships, supported by previous donations from the Covid Recovery Fund. In 2021, the block printed and distributed over 16,000 revision books to learners countrywide, which students still use.
Francis Ng’ang’a, the KEF’s Country Director, said his organization receives many applications for financial support yearly and lauded Prudential for its continued support.
“We receive thousands of applications from across the country and were it not for the support of well-meaning institutions like Prudential, we may not have the capacity to honour many of them,” He said.
