Sponsorships

Student Sponsorship

The Loldia School Fund raises money to finance scholarships, which provide the only realistic chance any of the children have of receiving a secondary school education. There is no secondary school within 30 Kilometres of Loldia Primary School so the children must board.

In January 2002 the Loldia School Fund awarded its first seven scholarships (4 boys, 3 girls). Each scholarship is funded by a donor who agrees to pay the annual boarding school fees and purchase of requisite equipment for four years, a total cost of £440 per year. The student is required to regularly write to their sponsor establishing a close relationship with the donor. Since that time sponsorship has rapidly expanded and there are currently 47 Loldia Scholars attending 3 secondary schools.

Every candidate must pass the Kenya certificate of Primary Education (KPCE).
Every candidate must be judged to be among the most able students of Loldia Primary School.
At least one in three successful candidates must be female.
Every candidate must have attended Loldia Primary School prior to January 2002 or for at least five years.
Every candidate must have no other means of paying secondary school fees.
Only two KCPE retake candidates are allowed each year.

The children are selected at the end of the calendar year after the national KCPE exam results are released. We take into account any preference of a sponsor where possible (sex, religion, age, interests etc). In February (the school year starts in January except in the first year) we personally meet all the scholarship children, buy them their gear, get to know them and deliver (if provided by the sponsor) a letter and photograph from them. We then take them to their new school complete with stamped addressed envelopes to write to their sponsor.

They are sworn to obey certain rules which if they violate they understand jeopardizes the scholarship;

(1) they must write to their sponsor at least once a term

(2) they must not ask for things unless they have a genuine need relating to school, (eg lost shoe, medical problem etc) and we have developed a network of contacts so we can deal with most problems

(3) they absolutely do not give their sponsor’s address (should the sponsor choose to give it to them, generally they write to us and we forward the mail) or the address of the Fund to anyone. If the sponsors or the Loldia School Fund receive any begging letters we take it very seriously. We will also send to all sponsors information about their scholar and a picture!

In theory the children should be around 14 years old when they take the KCPE, in reality they are on average 16 years old due to missed primary school years (late start, AIDS related issues, family problems, poverty etc.) and ages range from 14 to 17 years. This may seem a little odd as it means some of them 21 years old by the time they leave school but it often means that as young adults they are old enough to be deadly serious about the opportunity they’ve been given.

Fees are pretty similar at all schools, about £300 a year, beyond that we buy all the clothes, sports equipment, books, cleaning gear, trunks etc they need as well as meeting their parents and presenting them with a certificate (big event!). Their families can afford very little (often the child’s first experience of shopping in a town is with us!) and we don’t want them to be teased or unable to fully participate because they don’t have all they need. We replace a number of items every year and are benevolently suspicious about loss, everything is labeled! By buying things with them and delivering them to the school we know exactly what they have and that the school has actually acknowledged receipt of the fees and they really are studying there. We will also pay for school trips and things such as scouts/guides uniform so they can take full advantage of school life.

Based on our and others experience sponsorship costs in total are £440 per year for the four years. This figure is a good average annual estimate and should the actual amount be higher than this then Loldia School Fund will meet the additional cost. Should it be lower then we will apply any unused funds to benefiting Loldia Primary School.

The first £440 (or other currency equivalent) is required by December 15th for a scholarship beginning in the next year. Secondary schools require a basic level of achievement in the KCPE (which varies a little year by year) but is based on the premise that a secondary school education requires a certain level of achievement in the KCPE to be of value to the student and for them to have a realistic chance of achieving the Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) upon graduation. For this reason not all students taking the KCPE and achieving a basic pass mark will be able to take advantage of a scholarship.

Please click here to download a copy of the student sponsorship pack

Teacher Sponsorship

At the beginning of 2007 the Loldia School Fund, having supported teaching staff for several years, set up a Teacher Sponsorship Programme.

A fully qualified teacher is paid in the region £50 - £60 per month whilst an assistant teacher would receive somewhere in the region of £32 per month.

The Government funds only a limited amount of Teachers to each school which inevitably leads to overcrowding and sub standard education. The fund was concerned with the staffing levels provided especially in light of the rise of number of pupils.

Many of the teachers live in the school grounds or in the neighbouring village of Kasarrani .Over the past two years we have employed ex Loldia pupils who having been through Secondary school and graduated and come back to the Primary School as assistant teachers which not only benefits the school but enables them to get further qualifications.

Sponsorship of a teacher is a minimum two year commitment and can be designed to suit an individual or group/club/business sponsor who can choose what level they would like to sponsor at whether the total wage or a part wage of a teacher and payment can be made by direct debit either monthly, quarterly or annually.

This sponsorship makes a huge difference to the pupils at Loldia Primary School and the standard of education they get.

If you would like to know further details about this programme or if you would like to become a sponsor please contact us.

Click here to download the teacher sponsorship form.