Saving for your child’s education shouldn’t be this hard

Introducing the Zimele Education Plan, an education savings plan for Kenyan families: start from KES 100, save at your own pace, and have fees paid straight to the school.

Every January, May and September, the same scene plays out in homes across Kenya. The fee structure arrives when the previous term closes, the household budget tightens, and parents start making calls. Some ask for a salary advance. Others take a mobile loan, ask relatives for help, or dip into money meant for something else.

Most parents don’t lack love or effort. They lack a savings tool built for how Kenyan families actually earn, spend, and support one another.

That’s why we created the Zimele Education Plan. It is a dedicated education savings plan, invested in the Zimele Fixed Income Fund, that helps you set money aside for your child’s schooling, small amounts at a time, and keeps it working towards that one goal.

Below are five challenges parents tell us about most often, and how the plan is designed to answer each one.

Five challenges, one plan

1. The fee-time scramble

The challenge: Many families pay fees from that month’s salary, and when it falls short, they borrow. Salary advances, mobile loans, and informal lenders are quick but costly. The interest eats into next term’s budget, borrowing from relatives can strain relationships, and the cycle repeats three times a year.

How our plan helps: The Education Plan lets you prepare ahead instead of reacting. Start saving early, even in small amounts, and let time and steady growth do the heavy lifting. When the fee letter comes, the money is already there.

2. Plans that demand money you don’t have that month

The challenge: Many education savings products in the market require a fixed amount every month, no matter what. But life doesn’t follow a payment schedule. A job loss, a slow business season, a new baby, or a medical bill can leave a family short. Miss a payment and the policy may lapse or attract penalties, sometimes after years of faithful saving. These products are also rigid: the premium and term are set at the start and are hard to change, and stopping early often returns less than you paid in. Others need a large deposit before you can even begin.

How our plan helps:

Start with just KES 100. No large opening deposit.
Save your way. Deposit a lump sum, save regularly, or top up whenever you’re able, through M-Pesa or your bank.
No penalty for a missed deposit. If a month is tough, you can pause and pick up again when things improve. Your plan doesn’t lapse.
The whole family can contribute. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and godparents can deposit directly into your child’s plan, so birthday and holiday gifts go towards their future.
Savings that are too easy to spend

3. Savings that are too easy to spend

The challenge: Many parents do save in a mobile wallet, a regular bank account or cash at home. But money that’s one tap away gets used when an emergency comes up, or a relative asks for help. Cash at home risks loss or theft. A chama payout is valuable, but it may not arrive when fees are due, and once it lands, it competes with every other need.

How our plan helps:

Savings with one purpose. Money in the plan is set aside for your child’s education.
Fees paid straight to the school. Give us written instructions, and we pay the school directly.
Room for the extras. You can withdraw up to 15% of your savings each year for education-related costs such as books, uniforms, and school trips.
A clear exit if you need it. You can end the plan with one month’s written notice; an early-termination fee of 2% of the balance applies.

4. What happens if something happens to you

The challenge: Savings held informally by a spouse or relative, in a personal account, or under a verbal family arrangement can get stuck in succession processes or be misused by whoever controls them. Nothing guarantees the money will still reach your child’s education.

How our plan helps:

A Stand-In Guardian you choose. If you pass away or can’t manage the account, your nominated Stand-In Guardian can instruct us to pay school fees directly to the school. They cannot withdraw the money to their own bank account or mobile wallet.
Your child comes first. Your child is the sole beneficiary and next of kin of the account, and the account transfers to them at 18.
Help in a medical emergency. If your child needs urgent medical attention, funds can be released without penalty, paid directly to the hospital.
A regulated home for your money. The plan runs under the Zimele Fixed Income Fund, a collective investment scheme governed by Kenya’s Collective Investment Schemes Regulations.

5. Savings that don’t keep up with school costs

The challenge: Cash at home and current accounts earn nothing, and many savings accounts pay little interest. As school costs rise each year, the same money buys less education. For most of the other alternatives in the market, part of every premium goes to the life cover and charges, so less of your money is invested, and growth is often only visible at maturity.

How our plan helps: Your savings are invested in the Zimele Fixed Income Fund, which holds government bonds and treasury bills and aims to earn regular interest. Interest is reinvested so your balance keeps growing, and you can watch it build over time. When your child completes their education, any remaining funds are transferred to an account in their name.

Getting started with your education savings plan

Opening an Education Plan takes a few details and as little as KES 100.

Fill in the application. Share your details, your child’s details, and the plan’s contract period. You can add a second parent or guardian.
Nominate a Stand-In Guardian. Choose someone you trust to keep your child’s fees paid if you can’t.
Make your first deposit. Pay through M-Pesa or your bank, then save at a pace that works for you.

The best time to start saving for your child’s education was the day they were born. The next best time is today, before the January fees season.

Open your child’s Education Plan → https://forms.zimele.co.ke/education

Questions? Call us on +254-722-207662 or +254-734-207662, WhatsApp +254733111106, email info@zimele.net, or visit us at Ecobank Towers, 7th Floor, Muindi Mbingu Street, Nairobi.

The Zimele Education Plan is invested in the Zimele Fixed Income Fund. Returns are subject to market conditions and are not guaranteed, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Returns may be subject to applicable tax laws. Fees apply to incidental withdrawals and early termination; full terms and conditions are available on request.