MasterCard Foundation Increases Wings to Fly Commitment

The MasterCard Foundation pledged to release US$60 million towards the Wings to Fly scholarship program for students under the program who will be joining secondary school this year. This year’s pledge has brought the foundations’ total support of the program to US$100 million.

The program, which has been in place for five years now has enabled a total of 10,377 scholars to attend school, with support from USAID, UKAid and the German government. Equity Group Foundation has been leveraging previous support from The MasterCard Foundation to secure matching funds from other donors.

The President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation Reeta Roy stated that three out four bright students in the country get enrollment to secondary schools but due to lack of resources like school fees, they fail to join the schools.

The CEO of Equity Bank and Chairman of Equity Bank Foundation Dr. James Mwangi said that the scholars under wings to fly tend to perform better beyond their expectations. He added that most of them achieve the qualifications for direct entry into the Kenyan Universities.

The program has a target of ensuring over 20,000 bright students from poor backgrounds in Kenya have access to secondary education. The project provides comprehensive scholarships to academically gifted, yet economically disadvantaged secondary students in Kenya.

It covers for everything that the students need while in school, from tuition, books, uniform and stipends for the entire period of their secondary education. The program places further emphasis on leadership development, career guidance and mentorship so as to enable the students make wise choices as they clear secondary education for advancements. The objective of wings to fly scholarship program is to provide financial support and leadership empowerment tools to such students.

Article by Vera Shawiza.