How we choose our students

Considerations when selecting students

This is one of the most difficult areas to navigate emotionally, but after 25 years of experience it is an area we have explored and reached a clear direction on.

We are looking for students that need to have their education funded in order to progress. This means they are living in a certain level of poverty.

However, we know that if a child is orphaned or homeless, no matter our funding of their education, they will likely not have the support network to help them in their future success. In Kenya, Social Services and Church Schools are available to help those with no family support network, and this is not an area Kids League Kenya overlaps with.

Our pupils ideally have at least one parent, a place to call home and at least one meal a day. Hunger and lack of shelter are huge challenges to being able to concentrate at school and it is important a child has these foundations in order to be able to make the most of the opportunity of their scholarship.

We only select students at Government schools following the CBC (Competency-Based-Curriculum), which includes year end Kenya Certificate of Primary School Education (KCPE). The students we consider must score over 320 (out of potential 500) in these exams to show their academic potential.

Our process for selecting students

Our focus is on providing scholarships to those with the drive to make the most of the opportunity.

The first stage of our submission process is for the Heads of our partner schools to recommend students they believe meet our criteria. This means they believe they are disadvantaged, but have a high KPSEA score (over 320 points). This is roughly 10 pupils from each school.

They are invited to an interview at the Kids League Kenya offices with our administrator, who will also take their details.

This is followed by a home visit to understand the family circumstances and support network. Then the last stage when selecting students is a final interview with two of our Trustees.

Once a student has been shortlisted for a scholarship they will receive a letter from the Ministry of Education that they have been accepted into Secondary School.

We then meet with the parents to sure the family is ready and able to support this next step. This includes making plans for affording uniforms, travel and any other logistics.