Nairobi, Kenya, Oct 11 – Family Bank has signed a partnership with Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) that seeks to support learning as the Ministry of Education undertakes progressive reopening of schools.
The financing solution cuts across the needs of private schools with key focus on E-learning enabler that will see private schools access credit to finance ICT infrastructure and access to electricity through solar panels and biogas installations to support e-learning, purchase of sanitizing materials & equipment’s, facemasks for teachers, portable temperature equipment and meet other operational expenses. It will also finance the need to build additional classrooms to comply with the social distancing requirements or even put up sufficient water tanks or drill up boreholes to promote access to safe and clean water.
“As a Bank, we understand the challenges that schools are currently facing in a bid to facilitate learning and adhere to the Government’s regulation of social distancing and maintaining hygiene to keep our children safe during this pandemic. This is why access to affordable credit with flexible terms is crucial,” said Family Bank Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Mbithi.
“The Bank is keen on supporting the education eco-system and as such we have put in place favourable terms such as lower processing fees, repayment holiday till January 2021, termly repayments to accommodate the school calendar operations and repayment periods of up to 60 months depending on the financing needs,” she added.
The ICT infrastructure financing will offer up to 100% financing with a repayment period of up to one year for tablets and two years for laptops paid per term. The short-term loans, of KES 500,000 to KES 3 million will aid private schools comply with the Ministry’s directive while the financing for construction, adoption of renewable energy and installations of water facilities will have a repayment period of up to 60 months.
“We applaud Family Bank for taking into consideration private schools that consist of over 2.6 million students both at registered Early Childhood Development and Education Centers, primary and secondary levels. COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to the private sector and we believe through this financing many schools will be able to get back on their feet, promote the wellbeing of their staff and facilitate quality education to our children,” said Kenya Private Schools Association Chairperson Mutheu Kasanga.
This financing is open to private schools registered by the Ministry of Education with at least 3 years in operation and a member of the Kenya Private Schools Association. The financing allows buy-off and consolidation of existing facilities.
Kenya Private Schools Association estimates that nearly 500,000 jobs for both skilled and unskilled persons in the private sector have been affected by the pandemic. A UNICEF Report, released in August, estimates that with the closure of schools in March this year, over 17 million students’ learning was interrupted with most having missed more than six months of formal education.
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