On Friday, cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya launched Maziwa ni ya school fees programme which will give Cooperatives from the Uasin Gishu the opportunity of paying school fees with milk instead of money.
The new program will ensure milk farmers in the Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) pay their children’s school fees using milk in a bid to reduce the school dropout rate in the county.
According to Oparanya, this program aims at strengthening cooperative societies through increased milk production and ensure students continuously learn without interruption due to school fees.
“I am happy that the Maziwa ni School Fees Program is being implemented here, and I would like for it to be implemented in the whole country in dairy cooperatives. It would be my joy that it even graduates from dairy cooperatives to other cooperatives too,” Oparanya said.
In the program, participating dairy cooperatives establish agreements with schools, allowing parents to make daily milk deliveries that will be credited toward their children’s school fees.
The program has an application that has automated the process in that the moment two liters of milk are delivered to the school daily, the fees automatically go to the school where the milk has been delivered.
At the end of each month, the total milk delivered will be calculated, and its value will be deducted as payment for school fees.
Once the process is done, the cooperative chairperson follows through and ensures that a receipt is generated for the school fees and given to the parents.
Apart from reducing the school dropout rate, the program also aims to boost milk production. Instead of parents selling their livestock to pay school fees, this program will allow them to save the heifers.
For farmers whose milk supply is insufficient to cover school fees, the county government, through its extension services, will offer support and guidance to enhance production.
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