Bungoma Member of Parliament (MP) John Makali promised to sponsor a student who had gone back to primary school despite topping his class with 405 marks in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.
Robinson Masinde Wekesa’s story was first featured in the press detailing the trouble and pain he underwent because of failing to attain his dream of joining high school.
The MP, however, stated that the matter had not been brought to his attention early enough and promised to release the necessary funds to ensure the student reports to high school on Thursday, February 9.
Wekesa had secured an admission to Kabianga High School where he was expected to report on Wednesday, February 8, but had since gone back to his former primary school where learning was already in progress.
“I have not yet reported to Kabianga High School because my parents are not able to raise the funds. My mother is a housewife and my father is a bodaboda rider,” Wekesa stated amidst tears.
The top performer, who harboured a dream of becoming a neurosurgeon, disclosed that he was discouraged by his family's financial situation.
However, he maintained that he had decided to repeat class eight with the goal of performing even better.
“I have decided to repeat class eight and do better than I did in the last exams. I want to be a neurosurgeon,” Wekesa disclosed.
His mother added that they had tried getting scholarships for their son but after an assessment, the organisations did not select him.
As form one reporting exercise continued across the country, some students like Wekesa had not begun preparations for joining high school because of the inability to secure the necessary funding for their education.
In a separate incident, the family of Martha Gesare, a student who had scored 409 marks in the 2022 KCPE exams decided to take her back to primary school after failing to raise funds for her high school education.
This was despite the directive of the Education CS Ezekiel Machogu on Monday, January 16, who stated that the government had put in place plans to ensure a 100 per cent transition of all candidates to secondary school.
The government set aside up to Ksh22,000 in capitation for every student in secondary school in Kenya to ensure the achievement of the 100 per cent transition.
