How We Choose Who Gets a Scholarship

Every donor has a question they are usually too polite to ask: how do I know this reaches the right person?

It is a fair question and it deserves a full answer rather than a reassuring sentence. This is how a scholarship at Delight Technical College is awarded, from application to graduation, including the parts that are difficult.

The principle we work from

A scholarship is not charity and it is not a prize. It is an investment in a specific person who has the ability to complete the training and the intention to use it, and who cannot pay for it.

All three conditions have to hold. Ability without need means the student would have enrolled anyway and the money has displaced nothing. Need without ability means we have set someone up to fail and taken a place from a student who would have finished. Both without intention produces a certificate and nothing else.

Our process is built to test all three, in that order.

Stage 1- Application

Scholarship applications open at the start of each term. Applicants complete the standard college application form plus a scholarship section covering household circumstances, current means of support, and what they intend to do with the training.

Required at this stage:

• Copy of National ID, passport or birth certificate
• Two passport-size photographs
• Academic documents- KCPE or KCSE results, or evidence of prior TVET level
• A short written or spoken statement on why the applicant wants this specific programme

We deliberately keep the paperwork light at entry. Elaborate documentation requirements filter out exactly the applicants a scholarship exists for people without printers, without filing, without anyone at home who knows how forms work. Verification happens later, and we do the work rather than making the applicant do it.

Stage 2- Assessment of need

Need is assessed rather than assumed, and it is assessed on evidence.

We look at:

• Household income and how many people depend on it
• Whether the applicant is orphaned, separated from family, or heading a household themselves
• Whether the applicant is already contributing to household income and would lose that by studying full-time
• Existing school fee arrears or siblings in school
• Distance from campus and whether accommodation would be required
• Any support already being received from another source

Where possible, need is corroborated by a chief’s or assistant chief’s letter, a religious or community leader, a former head teacher, or a social worker at a partner organisation. Where an applicant genuinely cannot produce any of these, a home or community visit is conducted by college staff or a partner organisation before an award is made.

We do not award on the strength of a sad story alone. Distress is not evidence, and the applicants best at describing hardship are frequently not the applicants living the most of it.

Stage 3- Assessment of ability and fit

Every shortlisted applicant is interviewed, in person where possible, by phone or video where distance makes that impossible.

The interview tests:

• Genuine interest in the specific programme, as distinct from wanting any training at all
• Basic aptitude for the discipline- this is a practical conversation, not an academic examination
• Understanding of what the programme involves, including its length and its practical demands
• What the applicant intends to do afterwards
• Realistic ability to attend- transport, childcare, work commitments, family support

Applicants for practical disciplines may be asked to bring anything they have made, or to attempt a short practical task. Formal qualifications are not the point. We have awarded scholarships to applicants with weak examination results and obvious hands; we have declined applicants with strong results and no interest in the trade.

Entry requirements still apply. A scholarship pays fees; it does not waive the KNQF entry requirements. An applicant who does not yet meet the entry requirement for a level is directed to the level they do qualify for (usually Level 3 Artisan, which accepts KCPE or KCSE at any grade) rather than being refused outright.

Stage 4- The award decision

Decisions are made by a scholarship panel, not by any single individual, and never by the person who received the application.

The panel comprises [the Principal or a nominee, the relevant Head of School, a member of the administration, and, where a named fund is involved, a representative of the donor or a person nominated by them].

The panel considers each shortlisted applicant against three recorded criteria that includes verified need, demonstrated ability and fit, and likelihood of completion and records a written reason for every decision, including refusals.

Conflicts of interest are declared and the member concerned withdraws from that decision. Relatives of staff are not excluded from applying, but any such application is decided without the related staff member present and is flagged in the record.

Where a fund carries donor-specified criteria (a county, a discipline, a category of applicant) those criteria are applied first and the general criteria applied within them.

Stage 5- What the award actually covers

Awards are made at defined levels so both student and donor know exactly what is covered.

• Full scholarship– all tuition for the year, plus the one-time admission costs of KES 8,500 and the starter kit
• Partial scholarship– a stated percentage of tuition, with the balance met by the family or another source
• Admission and starter support– the KES 8,500 entry cost and the starter kit only, for students who can meet monthly fees but cannot meet the lump sum at entry
• Examination and attachment support– examination fees and attachment costs for students who are otherwise self-funding

Partial awards are used more often than people expect. Splitting one full scholarship into two partial ones frequently carries two students who would each otherwise have dropped out, and families who contribute something tend to stay engaged.

Funds are never paid to the student in cash. Awards are applied directly to the student’s fee account and to the supply of materials. Every award is recorded against a named student and a named fund.

Stage 6- Conditions, and what happens when they are not met

A scholarship continues on conditions, and the student is told what they are in writing before accepting.

• Maintain the college attendance requirement of 75 per cent in each unit
• Sit and pass assessments, or agree a remediation plan where a unit is failed
• Observe the student policy and code of conduct
• Meet the scholarship coordinator each term for a review
• Notify the college promptly of any change in circumstances

Where conditions are not met, the first step is a conversation, not withdrawal. Most breaches have a cause that funding cannot see from a distance like a sick parent, a job taken to feed siblings, a transport cost that quietly became impossible. Where the cause can be addressed, we address it.

Awards are withdrawn for sustained non-attendance without explanation, for serious misconduct, or where a material misrepresentation is discovered in the application. Withdrawal is decided by the panel, not by an individual, and the student may make representations first.

A withdrawn award is redirected to the next qualified applicant on the waiting list within the same term where possible.

Stage 7- Tracking and reporting

Every sponsored student is tracked from award to graduation and beyond.

• Termly academic and attendance record
• Termly review meeting with the scholarship coordinator
• Attachment placement recorded and evaluated
• Examination results recorded
• Graduation outcome recorded
• Employment or self-employment status followed up at [six and twelve] months after graduation

Sponsors of named students receive termly updates, subject to the student’s consent to that information being shared. Students are asked for this consent explicitly and may decline any element of it without affecting their award (a point we make clearly, so that consent means something).

The uncomfortable parts

Three things we would rather say ourselves than have discovered.

We turn away qualified applicants every single term. Not because they fail the criteria, but because the money runs out. The waiting list is real and it is long, and every applicant on it met the standard.

Not every sponsored student finishes. Some leave. Lives are complicated and training is not always the thing that survives the complication. We report the completion rate honestly rather than quoting only the students who graduated.

Assessment of need is imperfect. We verify what can be verified and use judgement on the rest. We will occasionally be wrong in both directions. What we can promise is that a documented process was followed, more than one person decided, and a reason was recorded.

For donors who want to see it

Donors are welcome to observe the process. You may sit in on a selection panel, review anonymised applicant files, or ask to see the criteria and the decision record for any fund you support.

If you have established a named fund you may nominate a representative to the panel for decisions from that fund.

To arrange any of this, write to [email protected] with the subject “Scholarship Process” or call +254 722 533 771.

You should not have to take our word for it, so do not. Come and look.

Delight Technical College, A TVETA-accredited institution (TVETA/PRIVATE/TVC/0080/2022)

Muindi Mbingu Street, opposite Jevanjee Gardens, Nairobi CBD | P.O. Box 12988-00100 GPO Nairobi

[email protected] | +254 722 533 771 / +254 724 566 088 | www.delight.ac.ke

M-PESA Paybill 522533, Account 8023637#YourSurname | KCB Bank Kenya, Biashara Street, Delight Technical College, A/C 1296930947