1,700 Students Secure Wings to Fly Scholarships

A total of 1,700 bright but financially challenged students across the country, who sat for the 2016 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) have been offered comprehensive secondary school scholarships by the Equity Group through their Wings to Fly initiative.

The commissioning of the 1,700 students will see them join others who are joining form one in 2017 by fully being sponsored though out their entire secondary school education and the university.

Apart from those joining secondary school, the Group also launched the 2017 Equity Bank paid pre-university internship program for the 2016 Wings to Fly graduates who managed to score an A and A-, therefore bringing the total number of scholars who have benefitted from the internship program to 5,059. This program is meant to enable the scholars pay for their university education while undergoing leadership, coaching and mentoring.

Of the 141 students who managed to score the A grade in the recently released Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, eight of them were Wings to Fly scholars. Statistics have shown that 98 percent of those students taken through the program manage to finish their secondary school education. 85 percent of these students make it to the University, and those who do not manage to reach the university grades are sponsored into joining vocational institutes in Kenya.

So far scholars from the Wings to Fly program have received scholarships to study in universities abroad while the first set of scholars under the program are now accredited doctors who have come together in a franchise set of clinics dubbed “Equity Afia”.

The Cabinet Secretary of Education, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, who graced the event appreciated those who give tirelessly towards the welfare of program either through time, money or any other resources. He stated that the government is committed to reforming its bursary scheme in counties in its support for the needy students.

On the other hand, the Equity Group Chairman Dr. Peter Munga said that the Program serves aa an opportunity for every deserving child to access education so as to help them realize their potentials. He added that beneficiaries of the program are academic giants from their respective counties.

The total number of those who have gone through the Wings to Fly program currently stands at 14,368 scholars.

The Wings to Fly program with the generous support of The MasterCard Foundation was launched with the aim of granting over 10,000 comprehensive secondary school scholarships and leadership training to academically gifted yet economically and socially marginalized young Kenyans.

The Program has been designed to give hope to bright, deserving children by giving them the opportunity to obtain an education and resultant benefits including better educational outcomes, improved chances of success in life, increased gender equality in secondary education, new opportunities for students from rural areas to access education and greater social integration among students.

In addition to a focus on academic excellence and achievement, the program’s curriculum places an emphasis on skills development and networks to help students succeed in secondary school and beyond. Upon graduation, scholars with high academic achievements are selected for internships with Equity Bank.

Related: Co-operative Bank has Your Back with Back to School