Kenyan Girls’ Scholarship Programme
UNICEF Scholarships gives top-performing girls from nomadic communities the opportunity to continue their studies and to become future female leaders
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| Two students who are part of UNICEF's Girls' Scholarship Programme study at a Nairobi boarding school. UNICEF Canada/2007/Elizabeth Dallaire |
$1,875
will support a year of secondary school for a bright young woman from a nomadic community.
$7,500
will support that girl for all four years of her secondary education.
Kenya has some of the highest primary school enrolment rates in the world, thanks in part to the abolishment of school fees in 2003. Since then, children of all ages have been exercising their right to an education across the country.
For several years, UNICEF has been supporting basic education programmes for children from nomadic communities in the North Eastern province of Kenya: mobile elementary schooling, whereby the teachers travel with nomadic communities to education the children, and primary-level girls’ boarding schools.
But until now there has been very little opportunity for top-performing girls from the province to continue their education at the secondary level. To fill this gap, UNICEF has created a four-year scholarship programme for nomadic girls. Working with community and religious leaders and the Ministry of Education, UNICEF identifies 60 of the most deserving girls from poor Nomadic communities to further their education.
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| This mother's daughter is attending secondary school in Nairobi thanks to UNICEF scholarship. UNICEF Canada/2007/Carolyn Solby |
$7,500 will provide a bright young woman with enough funding for four years to cover all the costs related to secondary school education, including uniforms, school supplies, transport, housing spending money and the guidance of a volunteer female mentor.
The opportunity to further their education at a good quality secondary school is something the girls’ families would never be able to afford. These girls will now be better able to realize their potential and become confident young women and leaders in their society. By breaking through the traditional barriers confronting nomadic girls, the students can lead and inspire a new generation of girls and be role models for their peers.
These girls will form the vanguard of nomadic girls moving forward to university or training colleges and subsequently address the shortage of female professionals and women in leadership roles in Kenya’s North Eastern province.
