Inuka Scholarship Initiative Aims to Uplift Disabled Students in All 47 Counties

Aoma Keziah

Education
7 April 2025

Aoma Keziah

By Aoma Keziah,

The official launch of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Foundation’s flagship education scholarship program, Inuka.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Migos Ogamba, presided over the official launch of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Foundation’s flagship education scholarship program, Inuka, an initiative, which targets bright but needy students with disabilities, is designed to support secondary school education across all 47 counties in Kenya.

Each year, the program selects two deserving students per county, aiming to bridge the education gap and promote inclusivity in the national education system. The support extended to beneficiaries includes tuition fees, uniforms, assistive learning devices and mentorship to ease their integration into the productive workforce.

“The National Survey on Children with Disabilities and Special Needs in Education conducted in 2018 estimated that approximately 11.4 percent of children aged 3-21 in Kenya have disabilities. That percentage translates to 2,489,252 children. The survey further identified several challenges faced by children with disabilities in their education journey including lack of accessible infrastructure and inadequate training for tutors who handle them. These challenges have resulted in low enrolment rates and high dropout rates among these vulnerable groups,” said CS Ogamba.

Present during the launch , was his counterpart Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum who, noted that the partnership between the public and private sectors is essential in achieving long-term social impact.

“This initiative by the KPC Foundation is a shining example of how corporate social responsibility can directly uplift communities,” he remarked.

KPC Managing Director, Mr. Joe Sang, emphasized the Foundation’s unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive society where students with disabilities can access quality education and unlock their full potential.

‘‘As a Company, we identified the challenges that children with disabilities face in their pursuit for education and remained steadfast in our endeavor to make a difference in their lives by ensuring that irrespective of their disabilities and financial limitations, they stand an equal opportunity to quality education for self-reliance and to transform the quality of their lives,” he noted.

KPC Board Chairperson Mrs. Faith Bett Boinett, highlighted thousands of students in Kenya are forced to share limited resources, which is dire for those with disabilities.

“The reality in the education sphere in our country is that thousands of students are forced to share the limited resources available. The situation is particularly dire for students with disability who require additional support to integrate into the education system,” she highlighted.

Alongside the official launch of the INUKA program, KPC Foundation also unveiled an annual mentorship program, designed to enhance student retention, improve academic performance, and equip scholars with the necessary skills to transition into successful careers. The mentorship program will upskill 370 students annually.

As part of progression of the INUKA program, the KPC Foundation recently operationalized INUKA PLUS, an extension of INUKA that will extend support beyond secondary school education, offering university, college and TVET scholarships to the top-performing students from the secondary school program.

The Foundation will also invest KES 41 Million annually for the INUKA PLUS program and a cumulative KES 160 Million for the four years of study. The first cohort of INUKA PLUS beneficiaries comprising 25 students were awarded scholarships in December 2024.