The Presidential Secondary School Bursary (PSSB) is a flagship project of vision 2030 that seeks to reduce illiteracy by increasing access to education and improving transition rates from primary to secondary schools.

Children comprise over 50% of the Kenyan population.

The number of Orphans and Vulnerable children (OVC) has been on the increase. The ministry implements the Cash transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC- CT) since 2004.

The bursary is a Government’s commitment to actualizing legal requirement of the constitution Art. 53 (b) on access to free and compulsory education and Section 13(1), of the Children Act 2022.

The government started the School Fees Bursary for OVC in 2006/2007 F/Y as a complementary service to support OVC in Secondary Schools. It changed its name to Presidential Secondary School Bursary (PSSB) for OVCs in 2013/14 F/Y.

Constituency Bursary allocation and Administrative structures

All the 290 Constituencies in the Country are allocated an equal amount of money which is about 1.35M. The bursary is administered at the Constituency level, through a committee known as Presidential Bursary Sub-committee which is a sub-committee of the Constituency Social Assistance Committee (CSAC). It receives, vets and approves applicants.  It also creates awareness on the bursary in the constituency. The area MP is the designated patron of the Committee. 

Who qualifies for bursary?

• He/she must be an Orphan/Vulnerable Child from a very poor household;
• The beneficiary must be enrolled in a public boarding secondary school;
• The beneficiary must be under 18 years of age at entry point into the bursary Scheme;
• He/she must be resident in the target Location within the Constituency;
• Needy children from statutory institutions.