A section of KTDA Foundation sponsored students thank their sponsors – KTDA and partners – during the closure of a five-day mentorship workshop held in Nairobi. With them (centre) is KTDA Foundation Manager, Jaki Mathaga.
Atleast 240 students under KTDA Foundation National Tea Scholarship Programme concluded a mentorship workshop in Nairobi Friday, August 22, 2015.
The bright, needy students from tea growing zones were counseled on matters of academics, drugs and substance abuse, goal setting, stress management, self-esteem and sexuality during the five-day mentorship workshop that started Monday, August, 17. The exercise was organized to fashion the students into responsible citizens at a time when juvenile delinquency is rampant amongst youths.
Receiving the students at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) National Chairman, Mr Peter Kanyago, said that education is an integral part of life that facilitates self-development, links academics to industry and provides real life solutions to problems facing the economy. He added that the mentorship programme will help the youngsters shun drugs and substance abuse which are a common phenomenon in schools today.
“This program will help raise the aspirations, motivation and educational achievements of the students and enable them avoid abusing drugs that have become synonymous with style in our schools today,” Mr Kanyago said.
The Chairman reiterated that drugs have reduced many bright people into addicts and have been largely responsible for family feuds and disintegration.
The sponsored students are studying in various secondary schools in the country and were selected on grounds that they are orphans or that their families are poor and unable to raise school fees. The Foundation has committed to sponsor 2 qualified but needy students from every tea catchment area for four years at public secondary schools. In 2015, 87 students were granted scholarships to join Form One, in addition to 153 who were already on an on-going sponsorship programme. The pioneer students are in form three.
KTDA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lerionka Tiampati, said “KTDA is committed towards improving the lives of the small scale tea farmers and their dependents through education. The National Tea Scholarship Programme has been active since its formation in 2012 and will continue to thrive and support tea farmers to posterity.”
Each year, the students are taken through an annual mentorship programme where they are mentored and taken through academic reviews. This means every student will be mentored four times before they sit for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.
KTDA Foundation is the CSR arm of KTDA Holdings that champions activities aimed at improving the lives of the small scale tea farmers and their dependents across areas such as Environmental Sustainability, Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.