Nehemiah Koech, who scored a grade A- in the 2019 KCSE exams, was forced to take up multiple jobs including being a security guard and digging septic tanks to raise his tertiary school fees.
In an attempt to support his three younger sisters through their education while raising money for his University education, Koech, who is the sole breadwinner of his family, approached a landlord who offered him a job as a security guard.
Coming from a humble background with ailing parents, he had to put his dream of becoming a Cardiologist on hold and focus on earning a living.
After receiving his results, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) placed Koech at St Paul's University to pursue a Computer Science course but he never joined the institution.
He stated that he first sought help from the educational institutions in Eldoret including reaching out to the governor but when he did not get any positive response, he decided to look for a job.
“I tried reaching out to people who could at least take me to any MCA to present my case but everyone gave up on me along the way,” Koech narrated.
Koech was a beneficiary of a scholarship programme that supported him through his high school education at Baringo high school.
However, when he was placed by the government to pursue a degree course, he reached out to the institution but he was notified that it could not continue supporting him because it was undergoing financial crises, following the severe effects of the pandemic.
“I went back to them but they told me that they did not have funds to support me beyond high school because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Koech stated.
Despite the hardships he went through, Koech still dreamt of pursuing his education and changing his life as well as that of his family.
“The landlord paid me Ksh200 every day to watch over his apartments and at least I could use that to support my siblings.
“I am still working hard hoping that my future will be different. I am doing what I can to help my family,” Koech stated.
In the 2019 KCSE results, over 125,448 students qualified for degree courses in the university scoring a C+ grade and above.
The 385,860 who scored between grades C and D qualified for diploma and certificate programmes.
