County Government of Kirinyaga has become the latest devolved unit to sign the Inter-Governmental Partnership Agreement (IPA) on support to education to allow resumption of issuance of bursaries.
The agreement comes as a relief to thousands of needy students who depend on the county support to continue with their education.
Disbursement of the bursaries by County Governments was stopped by the Controller of Budget (CoB) last year over alleged contravention of the constitution which designates universities, tertiary education institutions, primary schools, secondary schools and special education as functions of national government.
In a circular dated January 14, 2025 to all County Executive Committee Members for Finance, Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o warned that the involvement of the devolved units in providing bursaries is unconstitutional and should stop.
Governor Anne Waiguru said the signing of the agreement with the Ministry of Education will allow her administration to disburse Sh126.5 million allocated for 2025/2026 financial year.
“Understanding the challenge that was there in disbursing the bursaries in the financial year 2024/25, we have endeavored to solve that by signing the agreement and we expect the process of gazettement of the agreement to be finalized by the end of this month, ensuring funds are disbursed in time for school reopening,” Waiguru said.
She said that once the gazettement is done, the county will continue managing the bursary function in support of needy children who have gone without the support for a whole year.
“Through the County Bursary Programme, we have cumulatively disbursed Sh540.7m to needy students, a kitty that we improved from Sh49.1m in 2017/2018 to Sh146m in 2023/24,” Waiguru said.
Backed by the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC), the agreement now give counties legal mandate to undertake the bursaries programme.
For the last seven years, close to 200,000 students from poor background have benefited from the bursaries
Waiguru said the county has constructed and renovated Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) classrooms, ensuring safe, child-friendly learning environments.
“The new facilities have been provided with furniture, water tanks and play equipment to enhance early learning,” she added.
The investment in infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, the Governor said enrollment in ECDE has increased from 13,280 learners in 2017 to 16,398 learners in 2025.
About 15,000 ECDE learners have been provided with free school uniforms.
She said the absorption of teachers into the permanent and pensionable scheme has boosted morale and improved service delivery at the centres.
“We have consistently replaced exiting ECDE teachers, equipped them with CBC-aligned teaching aids, and offered refresher courses, boosting classroom engagement and improving learner outcomes,” she said.
by Loreen Wamalwa
