There was drama at the Nyeri High School after one of the newly admitted students reported aboard a chopper.
Parents, students, and teachers were clearly awed by the rare scene, many speculating on the identity of the wealthy politician or businessman who had decided to fly his son to school.
Quite unexpected, the boy who disembarked from the chopper was no child to a wealthy parent but rather, a peasant’s 14-year-old son identified as Kelvin Muriuki.
Muriuki attended little known Karicheni Primary School and managed to score an impressive 372 marks in last year’s KCPE exam.
The boy’s parents were unable to raise the fees needed to take their son to Nyeri High - one of the most prestigious schools in the region.
Muriuki accompanied his father to the quarry with the hope of raising the Sh53,000 school fees, but that proved untenable.
“In the three weeks that I was with my father in the quarry, we raised Sh2,000 only. I had resigned myself to repeating Standard Eight,” Muriuki recalled.
Luckily, the boy was spotted by the Kenya Air Force Veteran Officers Association which offered to sponsor his education.
The association not only paid for his school fees, but they also hired a chopper to take him to secondary school.
The plane ride was meant to inspire him to work hard towards his dream of becoming a pilot.
Nyeri High School Principal James Maina (right) welcomes Form One student Kelvin Muriuki accompanied by his parents Margaret Wangui and Peter Nderitu
