Kenya’s Fragmented Bursary System: Helping Learners or Politicians?
Why kenya must fix its bursary system.
In Kenya today, access to education remains a constitutional right under Article 43 of the Constitution, which guarantees every child the right to free and compulsory basic education. Yet, despite multiple government-funded initiatives, education is still prohibitively expensive for many Kenyan families. A key reason lies in the highly fragmented bursary system that, instead of solving educational inequality, has increasingly become a political tool.
A Multiplicity of Bursaries
Currently, educational bursaries in Kenya are disbursed through numerous political offices:
Members of County Assembly (MCAs)
Members of Parliament (MPs) via Constituency Development Fund (CDF)
Senators
Women Representatives
Governors through county bursary programs
The President’s Bursary Fund targeting orphans and vulnerable children
In addition, there is:
Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) Fund
Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) for tertiary students
Each of these programs operates semi-independently, with different application processes, eligibility criteria, deadlines, and amounts awarded. Instead of building a seamless support structure for learners, the result is confusion, duplication, inefficiency, and in many cases, exclusion.
Is the Current System Serving Students or Politicians?
The bursary system has been politicized to the extent that allocations are often not based on actual need. Studies, such as the 2019 Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA Kenya) report, highlight that bursary disbursements tend to favor politically connected individuals, with little oversight or transparency. Politicians frequently use bursaries as tools for patronage, handing out cheques at rallies or church functions, turning a child's educational needs into a platform for personal political mileage.
Moreover, a 2020 report by Transparency International Kenya indicated that over 30% of students who applied for bursaries were unsuccessful despite meeting the eligibility criteria, while some beneficiaries were not the most needy. The lack of harmonized targeting mechanisms results in gross inefficiencies and widespread inequality.
The Hidden Cost: Administrative Waste
Running separate bursary programs across multiple layers of government incurs massive administrative costs—costs that could otherwise go directly to supporting students. Each office must maintain its bursary committees, vetting processes, advertising, and paperwork. This duplication wastes public resources and delays the support urgently needed by students.
The Bigger Picture: Why Not Just Make Education Free?
The Constitution of Kenya and the Basic Education Act (2013) envisage free and compulsory education. Yet today, parents still grapple with high costs of uniforms, textbooks, development fees, PTA contributions, and hidden charges.
If all the funds allocated for bursaries, FDSE, HELB, and other schemes were pooled into a central, well-managed fund, Kenya could:
Standardize and simplify access to educational support
Ensure equity by targeting genuinely needy learners through a unified database
Eliminate corruption and political manipulation
Reduce administrative overheads
Expand free education coverage to include more secondary and post-secondary learners
According to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) 2021 report, a well-coordinated scholarship and grant system could increase transition rates from primary to secondary education by up to 15% and significantly reduce school dropout rates.
The Way Forward
1. Merge All Bursary Funds into a National Education Support Authority, independent of political offices, staffed by technocrats, and operating under clear, audited guidelines.
2. Adopt a Unified Application Portal where all needy students apply and are evaluated based on verifiable socioeconomic data (e.g., household income, vulnerability indices).
3. Publicize Criteria and Award Lists for transparency and accountability.
4. Expand Direct School Funding to ensure that no child is turned away for lack of fees, especially in public schools.
5. Invest in Monitoring and Evaluation, including digital tracking of beneficiaries to measure the real impact of educational assistance.
Conclusion
Kenya’s fragmented bursary system, though well-intentioned, has fallen prey to political interests, leaving millions of children underserved. It is time to stop using education support as a campaign tool. Education must be treated not as charity but as a guaranteed right—managed professionally, equitably, and free from political interference.
The future of our nation depends on it.