The Government should improve the old system of disbursing bursaries instead of doing away with it altogether, according to the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers.

The Kuppet assistant secretary general, Mr Lewis Nyakweba, said the old system should be enhanced and the anomalies that allowed abuse addressed instead of introducing constituency bursary committees.

"Kuppet's stand is that bursary disbursement be left to schools, as was the case before, to avoid manipulation by politicians so that needy students may benefit," he said.

The unionist expressed fears that the new system was likely to benefit those close to politicians who "have sway over who sits on the constituency bursary committee.

"In fact, whether the district education officers remain at their stations will depend on the politicians and who they favour. The just disbanded constituency Aids committees are good examples of how politicians manipulated the composition of the committees. The proposed bursary committees will be no different."

Last week, the Ministry of Education released new guidelines on the distribution of bursaries in the country.

Education minister Prof George Saitoti said all secondary school bursaries would now be disbursed from constituencies, not schools.

"MPs should liaise with their respective district education officers and submit through them a list of their constituency bursary accounts, which should include the bank name, branch and signatories," the minister said.

Of the old system, Prof Saitoti said: "Bursary funds were sent directly to secondary schools and disbursed to needy students through BOGs. It became apparent that the programme was not benefiting the targeted group."

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