655 needy students to benefit from Co-op Bank scholarships

Top-tier lender Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) #ticker:COOP has committed to give scholarships to 655 needy students joining secondary schools and universities this year.

About 235 of the scholarships will be awarded through county governments. Five students will benefit in each of the 47 counties.

The bank is currently sponsoring 159 university students selected from the top-performing beneficiaries of the secondary school scholarships. The programme is funded through the lender’s Co-op Foundation Scholarship Scheme launched in 2007.

Following this year’s intake, the scheme will have provided full sponsorship to 5,899 students, of whom 4,110 will have gone through secondary education and 140 through universities.

“Our scholarship beneficiaries are selected at the grassroots level by co-operative societies across the country through a well-established national delegates system,” said Co-op Bank group chief executive Gideon Muriuki.

“Co-operative societies, who are the face of Kenya, identify well-performing students from disadvantaged backgrounds and bring these names into a regional forum where delegates debate and select the most deserving cases.”

READ: Co-op Bank overtakes Equity in loans issued

Co-op Bank provides full scholarships for the entire four years of secondary education. University scholarships are awarded to the best-performing students from each region.

“Unless corporate institutions and all people of goodwill come together to support initiatives within the education sector, brilliant but needy Kenyans will never realise their full potential,” added Mr Muriuki.

Equity Bank #ticker:EQTY recently awarded 1,000 secondary school scholarships to top performing boys and girls from the 47 counties.