Nyamira County Governor Amos Nyaribo has said that the county government has prioritised investment in basic education to enable learners to get a firm educational foundation and be competitive in various professions globally.
Nyaribo said the county government will continue to allocate sufficient funds for infrastructure improvement of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres and Vocational Training Colleges (VTCs) and further equip them with necessary tools, equipment and professional human resource to ensure learners are adequately prepared academically.
The Governor who made the remarks while gracing the County Education Open Day at Nyamira Primary School commended efforts and collaboration by education stakeholders that has enabled learners attain admirable achievements worth celebrating.
The Governor joined residents and education stakeholders to celebrate students’ exemplary attainments in talents, skills and academic achievements.
He said, “Due to various economic challenges of my people, I initiated the Governor’s scholarship courtesy of Nyamira County Education Support Fund (NCESF) which has supported a total of 750 secondary school students who are bright but economically vulnerable and the first cohort is currently in form three. This is one way my government is ensuring that all students have access to education.
Those who never managed to attain the minimum grades of joining universities can join our vocational training colleges to acquire technical skills which will enable them to be employable,” Nyaribo advised.
The Deputy Governor Dr James Gesami challenged students to put their best foot forward in their studies and other academic related endeavours to transform their future lives.
“Don’t let efforts made by all those who support you to access education go to waste because they are shaping a bright future for you. So, grab the opportunity and ensure you make the best of yourself out of this opportunity,” Dr Gesami advised.
The County Director of Education (CDE) Mr Joshua Kaga congratulated Nyamira County leadership for initiating a programme of celebrating the students’ hard work and taking stock of areas where they needed to put more effort.
“The initiative of rewarding top academic performers, showcasing and celebrating talent, innovation and creative skills by our learners is a noble idea since it appreciates their efforts, motivates learners and teachers to work hard and enables our county to remain on the map of academic giants in this country,” the CDE commented.
He pointed out that a lot of investment has been injected into the education of children in line with the modern twenty-first century concept of investing in children rather than for them.
He stated that the Ministry of Education is very keen in ensuring that the high standards and quality of education system in Nyamira are maintained and improved even more.
West Mugirango Member of Parliament Stephen Mogaka who was also present thanked the Governor for the initiative and promised to push for education matters in Parliament like timely disbursement of capitation money to ensure learning in schools is efficient and seamless noting that developed countries have excelled by investing in education.
Primary schools which scooped most trophies because of exemplary academic performance were Alimo Nyamira academy, St. Andrews Kaggwa Boys, Riomego SDA boarding and St. Mary’s Boys Riabore.
Eronge Adventist Junior Secondary topped in the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) public schools’ category and Saon academy in the private school’s category. Nyairicha special school topped in the Kenya Intermediary level education assessment (KILEA). Ekerubo Gietai led in the vocational training centres category followed by Kiobwoge. Matutu PAG topped in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and tied with St. Theresa’s Gekano.
Other trophies awarded were those of top performers in co-curricular activities where Gesebei primary (ECDE centre section) topped in the music festival at the regional level, while Kenyerere DOK primary was awarded for planting the highest number of trees and Menyenya SDA secondary was accorded a special environmental award to have made a model tree nursery with over 3000 tree seedlings.
Nyamira County Education Open Day is the first one ever commemorated since the inception of devolved government. The governor promised he would make it an annual event even if the performance drops so that it could be a brainstorming event of re-strategizing on improvement modalities to enable the County to remain among the top performers as long as the devolved units existed.