There’s only one former Form 4 who isn’t attending the Transition Program – Betty, who took the KCSE in November and scored highest of any girl in Daraja’s district (Laikipia East). As a result, she was offered a job by local Equity Bank, and not only is she paid for her work, the bank is also paying for her entire university education.
Betty (on the left) with classmate Hadijah
Equity Bank is the fastest-growing bank in Kenya, as a result of their effort to aid small-scale, low-income clients. They have branches in some of the most remote villages in Kenya, and in an effort to “equalize” Kenya’s lower and upper classes, they strenuously promote education in efforts like these. There are 47 districts in Kenya, and the highest KCSE-scoring boy and girl from each district were awarded the same scholarship Betty got, meaning she’s one of only 94 youngsters afforded this particular opportunity! Other banks and institutions offer similar such scholarships, too.
Betty will work at Equity Bank in Nanyuki part-time until she begins university. Following a week-long training in Nairobi with those 93 other peers, she’s been doing work that teaches her valuable employability skills, while she waits for an acceptance letter from whichever university she’ll attend in September. Then, she’ll stop work and focus solely on her studies, but will have the opportunity to work at the bank again over school holidays. In exchange, the bank pays her tuition, which, even though hers is subsidized by the government as a result of her high KCSE score, is still the cost of two or three month’s income of a middle-class Kenyan. Plus, all her living expenses will be covered – housing, food, transport, etc. Betty isn’t expected to go into banking, either – though at one point during her high school career she dreamed of being an accountant, now she’s not so sure. She’s just excited to begin her university studies and see what classes most pique her interest, and she’ll figure it out from there
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