Equity’s foreign scholarships hit Sh8.2b

By theabfortune

Equity Group’s airlift to global universities has reached 329 scholars with a total scholarship value of Kshs 8.225 billion (USD 82.25 million).

64 of the scholars are from the 2016 airlift and have set off to their respective universities in different parts of the world.

The 64 scholars are part of the 605 scholars earlier selected to join the ELP in 2015, having excelled as scholars in the Wings to FlyProgramme in KCSE the previous year.

Speaking from Equity Centre as he saw them off, Equity Group CEO James Mwangi advised the scholars to remain true to their mission abroad, which is academic pursuit, leadership training, networking and global exposure.

Mwangi further added that the foundation recognizes the need to support brilliant and needy students through ELP.

“This programme epitomizes the Tom Mboya academic airlift in the 1960’s that saw the likes of Barack Obama Snr and the late Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai, who later impacted our country in social economic development. Indeed, the quote by the then USA Senator, John F. Kennedy, that ‘Education is, in truth, the only key to genuine African independence and progress’ rings true to the Equity Group Foundation’s social programme initiatives.” He said

He said that the Equity Leaders Programme has now supported 3,405 scholars since inception with the number of those studying abroad as of this year, reaching 329 scholars from all over the country.

“90 per cent of the ELP Scholars access local public universities while 10 per cent are assisted to gain admission in global leading universities so that they get global experience and exposure” he added

The scholars are exposed  and have an opportunity to build global networks and experiences , so that their training and learning, personal life and professional experiences and future goals will be aligned to their society and community goals and will help to transform education and promote social economic transformation of our country.

The ELP programme is in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 of transforming Kenya into a globally competitive middle income economy by the year 2030.

The Equity Leaders Programme is a transition pre-university programme from the successful Wings to Fly Secondary School Scholarship Program for bright gifted but financially challenged children executed by Equity Group in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation with support of USAID, UKAID and Kfw.

The Equity Leaders Programme also offers a paid internship programme at the Bank. It is anchored as an advanced leadership development initiative which selects the top Wings to Fly scholars who attain grade ‘A’ as well as  the top boy and top girl   in the KCSE exams from all the counties, to develop them into world-class leaders.

As a way of giving back, the ELP scholars engage in mentorship activities to high school students, a gesture which has seen remarkable improvement in many public schools’ performance. The scholars also run initiatives that impact and benefit the immediate communities through charity and volunteering.

This year, of the 64 ELP scholars set to join global universities, 53 Scholars will be pursuing their undergraduate studies, 8 Scholars will be pursuing their postgraduate studies, 8 Scholars will be pursuing their postgraduate studies and 3 Scholars will be pursuing their post-secondary diploma at the African Leadership Academy. Some of the top schools that they will be joining this year include Princeton, Yale, Amherst, Duke, MIT, University of California Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University,  University of Toronto, Michigan State University, University of Leeds, Edinburg university, Carnegie Mellon university (in Rwanda) among others.

Some of the leading institutions that have admitted our ELP Scholars for the last six years include: