Mungwi — Government has launched the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) Tertiary Support Programme.
By Hellen Bwalya
The initiative will see girls under the KGS programme who successfully complete grade 12 receive sponsorship to pursue tertiary education.
Minister of Education Douglas Syakalima who launched the programme in Mungwi said the initiative will enable beneficiary girls and young women to fully realize their potential and become meaningful contributors to the country’s development agenda.He disclosed that over 148,000 girls have so far benefited from KGS since its inception in 2016, out of which 20 000 girls have successfully completed their grade 12.
Mr Syakalima however, said that less than 10 percent of the girls who completed grade 12 have transitioned to tertiary level.
Mr Syakalima attributed the low proportion of transitioning to limited financial support, stating that this is forcing the girls to settle back into their vulnerable community settings.The Minister disclosed that the Ministry of Education has already awarded sponsorship to 673 KGS beneficiaries to pursue tertiary education at various public higher learning institutions across the country.
Mr Syakalima said this when he officially launched the keeping girls in school tertiary education support scholarship programme at Mungwi Technical Secondary School in Mungwi district.
And Keeping Girls in School National Coordinator Willie Kaputo said there is an increase in the number of districts benefiting from the programme from the initial sixteen to sixty-five districts.
Mr Kaputo said that eight out of 12 districts in Northern Province are implementing the keeping girls in school project.
He explained that the introduction of the free education policy has helped the project save over K114 million.
He said the project used to offer a basic package of tuition, boarding, and examination fees, but the introduction of free education has enabled them to increase the grants from K252 to K600 to enable learners to procure school requisites like shoes, books, and school uniforms.
Meanwhile, Northern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Lewis Mwape who represented the provincial administration, said the launch of the KGS tertiary scholarship is a great milestone in increasing access to education for girls. He said the initiative will ensure that girl children have a reliable support system, and especially that it is focusing on rural children.
Dr Mwape said 80 percent of Northern Province is rural and grapples with high poverty levels, stating that the programme will therefore support a number of vulnerable children.
And Gift Nakaona, one of the first beneficiaries of the KGS tertiary scholarship programme, has thanked the government for transforming the lives of the vulnerable children.
Ms Nakaona who is in the school of medicine at Copperbelt University and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery, said her life has been positively impacted by this initiative.
Ms Nakaona, a double orphan, explained that her grandfather, who is blind, could not support her due to financial constraints but is happy that KGS came through and supported her until she completed secondary school.
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