A candidate who registered to sit the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), was forced to skip the exam after she went blind seven days before the test that kicked off Monday, March 7.
Speaking to the media, on Tuesday, March 8, Stella, a pupil at Kisole Primary School in Mwingi, Kitui County, narrated how a headache prevented her from writing her final exam.
However, in days leading to the exam, the migraine suddenly eased, but to her detriment- she had lost her eyesight.
"I had a severe headache for a very long time. However, my head stopped aching, and that is when I lost my eyesight," the student stammered
Her mother rushed her to the Mwingi Level Four hospital for diagnosis. Upon review and multiple tests, the medics established that she had brain tumor. Doctors at the facility have referred her to the Kenyatta National Hospital, where she is expected to undergo a medical procedure.
The learner who future now hangs in the balance is pleading with the government and well-wishers to step in and assist her foot the medical bill that is likely to arise when she undergoes the operation. Her widowed mother financially incapacitated and has no other source of income.
"When I go to KNH, the doctors will put me under the knife and remove the growth. I am pleading with the government to step in and assist me to pay the bill that will suffice," the KCPE candidate implored.
Notably, an official at the Mwingi Level 4 hospital told the media that apart from the learner, two other candidates in the constituency were taken ill and admitted to the facility for medial attention. The students consequently missing out on the national test which is crucial in their transition to secondary school.
"The issue we have in Mwingi Central is that we have three candidates who are admitted at the Mwingi, Level 4 hospital," stated the official.
Elsewhere around the country, 46 pupils who had registered for KCPE 2021 have not reported to their respective examination centre. According to Embu County Director of Education James Kairu, the pupils could not be traced.
He explained that some of the missing pupils were from families which were evicted from a contested piece of land believed to be under the ownership of the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA).
"It is true some candidates did not sit for the national examination because they could not be found. We looked for them unsuccessfully. I think the candidates were relocated to an unknown place after their families were destabilised during the evictions," he told a local media station.
