A student who scored 378 marks in this year’s KCPE exam in Baringo county might miss admission to a national school in Makueni for lack of school fees.
Fourteen-year-old Gideon Kiprop (pictured) emerged the best among 11 candidates at Fine Touch Academy. “Despite many challenges, the boy scored high marks,” institution director Elijah Chirchir said on Friday.
Kiprop has been living with his aunt Catherine Ekuwam. Kiprop said he wants to become a civil engineer when he completes his education.
He says he hopes to uplift the family, community and entire country once he is done with schooling. “His mother was has been ill, while his father is pursuing a teaching course. The community is paying his fees through fundraisers,” Ekuwam said.
Ekuwam, a small-holder farmer and mother of five, said she would have wanted to pay Kiprop’s school fees but her two daughters are in high school.
She said she has been raising the children from her meagre earnings after her husband fell from a rooftop and injured his spinal cord four years ago. He is disabled.
Ekuwam said she struggled to raise Sh2,600 every term to put Kiprop in a private school from Standard 6. The boy’s father said he is happy with Kiprop’s achievement but he is unable to raise his son’s school fees.
School head teacher Kiptoo Biwott appealed to friends, well-wishers and the government to intervene to ensure the boy continues with his education.
