Naema Celestine 
JOY SITATI
The discontinuation of the Edu-Afya scheme that began in 2018 and benefitted 1 million students in public secondary school was under probe before the National assembly educationย committee. Here, basic education principalย secretary Belio Kipsang defended the ministry saying the decision to discontinue the scheme came from parliament after it stopped the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
However, Belio said under the Social Health Insurance Fund, all deserving students from pre-primary school will benefit unlike in Edu-Afya where it targeted secondary school learners.
He also assuredย the country that despite discontinuation of Edu-AFYA, the nine learners who sought medication in India were still taken care of with only four still undergoing treatment.
The ministry was also tasked to explain why the remaining resources under Edu Afya were channelled to capitation and what alternative was provided for students who were under Edu Afya.
It is expected that the registration of students under SHIF will begin soon. The Ministry of Education called on the government to increase the next year’s budget allocation towards school feeding programmes from 4.9 billion to 6 billion so as to benefit the 4 million learners.
