It may sound like a cliché, but Kenya’s future and that of the entire African continent rests on its capacity to transform lives.

Positive transformation to enable the citizens achieve their full potential. What better way could there be than by investing in education at the basic level?

The MasterCard Foundation recently partnered with the Equity Group Foundation to launch Wings to Fly, a comprehensive secondary school scholarship and leadership development programme.

This Ksh4 billion programme ($50 million) is the largest such scholarship in Kenya, providing access to secondary education to more than 5,600 high achieving, yet economically and socially marginalised, students. We are also grateful to UKaid for joining this programme.

The MasterCard Foundation was created in 2006 through a gift from MasterCard Worldwide when it became a public company. 

The foundation was designed to operate as an independent global foundation dedicated to alleviating poverty.

The programme is motivated by a simple belief: Each of us has the potential to transform our lives and those of our families and communities.

It takes only an opportunity. That is why the foundation chose to focus on expanding access to microfinance and education — two basic tools that enable people to develop their talents and create their own pathways out of poverty.

We chose to focus on Africa because we believe in the opportunity to create enormous economic and social impact.

Many of our partnerships are aimed at empowering young people. By investing in Africa’s young people, we know they will write the story of the continent’s transformation. 

Indeed, Kenya’s most precious natural resource is its young people.

We have an opportunity to invest in their education and prepare them to become future leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators, employers, parents, teachers and responsible citizens.

Why secondary education?

It is the bridge between primary and tertiary education, and the link to the skilled labour market.

Secondary education directly influences a young person’s future prospects as well as the quality of a nation’s workforce and its prospects for economic progress.

Data tells us that an extra year of schooling (beyond the average) for a girl will boost her future wages by 10-20 per cent.

This will translate into a rise in incomes that will benefit families, fuel the economy and create shared prosperity.  

Secondary education is a formative phase. It’s a time when we learn to collaborate with others and develop our sense of civic engagement and citizenship.

There are far too many bright and deserving people in Kenya who complete primary education but never enrol in secondary school. Poverty denies them the opportunity. 

Wings to Fly

The programme builds on the vision and success of the government’s Free Primary School Policy that has dramatically increased access to education.

With the launch of Wings to Fly by President Kibaki, 5,600 people will have the opportunity to complete secondary education.

The programme will provide a pathway for the brightest and most deserving students to access quality secondary education.

Wings to Fly provides comprehensive scholarship support — from tuition and books to uniform and pocket money — for the full four years of secondary school. 

Besides emphasising on academic excellence, the programme provides mentoring and leadership development.

Many of the programme’s mentors are older youth who have completed secondary education and are now in university.

The programme embodies three important values:

•Equality: For Kenya to achieve Vision 2030, we need to remove barriers so that the brightest minds have an opportunity to develop and to contribute to development. This means both economic and gender equality — ensuring that boys and girls have an equal opportunity to learn.  

•Achievement: The programme rewards academic achievement, courage and resilience to overcome barriers.

•Giving back: Most importantly, this programme upholds the value of responsible citizenship and giving back. As future leaders, these young people will make contributions to their fields of study, business, communities and public service. Transformation occurs when we invest in one generation and they in turn invest in the generations that follow. 

It’s one thing to have a brilliant idea for a programme; it’s another to translate it into reality.

What’s essential for a national scholarship programme is integrity and transparency in the selection and financial processes.

We also wanted efficiency, broad outreach and a scalable platform that would attract others who want to invest in education.

We found a strong partner in the leadership and commitment of Dr James Mwangi and the Equity Group Foundation team.

Together, we’ve designed a programme that capitalises on Equity Bank’s infrastructure and extensive branch network.

The bank’s system handles and documents the financial transactions. Equity employees have embraced the programme — many have become mentors to these young people.

This approach — that leverages the infrastructure, networks, local knowledge and employees of a bank and combines it with the resources of a global foundation — is not only innovative, it’s ground-breaking in global philanthropy.

Rolling out a significant programme like this one requires vision and partnership.

We are grateful to President Kibaki for his vision to support free primary education. That decision has paved the way for thousands of young people to realise their dreams.

This partnership has engaged people across Kenya, beginning with the Ministry of Education and officials, including the minister, Sam Ongeri, and district education officers and community leaders.

The support of UKaid and the Equity Group Foundation have been invaluable.

Ms Reeta Roy is president and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. www.themastercardfoundation.org