The plight of learners yet to join Form One: Girl attempts suicide three times
A girl admitted to Form One but unable to report to school attempted suicide thrice.
A mother of four from Kajiado County has had to save her daughter from three suicide attempts.
Her daughter, a 14-year-old girl, is one of thousands of students who have been admitted to Form One but are yet to report to school, a week after Form One students reported to school.
The first-born's dream of becoming an engineer hangs in the balance as she is unable to attend school. She scored 327 marks in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam.
"She did well and wants to go to school. She has been crying so much that she is considering committing suicide because her friends have gone to school and left her at home. It is by the grace of God that she is still alive," said the mother, overcome with emotion.
The mother, who works as a mama mboga, is the breadwinner of the family and her daily earnings cannot even comfortably put food on the table for her family.
"I am appealing to well-wishers to come to my rescue before tragedy strikes. I can't take the girl to school and I'm worried about what she might do," she told the Nation.
Not far from the girl's home is 15-year-old Philemon Isoe, who has now turned to collecting scrap metal to raise money for his education.
Philemon Isoe, 15, scored 336 marks in the 2023 KCPE exams and has been called to join Moi Enariet Secondary School in Narok.
He scored 336 marks at Empakasi Primary School and is expected to join Moi Enariet Secondary School in Narok. He also dreams of becoming an aeronautical engineer.
"I have been collecting scrap metal to buy school uniforms because my mother cannot take me to school. We live from hand to mouth," he says.
Philemon's case is similar to that of Aroma Mkambe, 13, who scored 342 marks at the same school.
Aroma has now joined her mother in washing clothes to earn a living and pay her school fees.
Thirteen-year-old Aroma Mkambe scored 342 marks in the 2023 KCPE exams at Empakasi Primary School.
As the first born in a family of four siblings, Aroma says she is the immediate hope for the family and does not want her education to end at primary level.
"I have taken the opportunity to help my mother by washing clothes so that we can pay school fees, but at the moment the money we have saved cannot even buy me a uniform," she says.
From the same school is Kennedy Mucheru Irungu, who scored 345 marks. Raised by a single mother who washes clothes for people to earn a living, he is unsure if he will get into Nyahururu Boys Secondary School where he has been called.
Kennedy Irungu. He has not been able to join Nyahururu Boys due lack of school fees despite scoring 345 marks in the 2023 KCPE exams.
Another classmate, Koina Omboga, scored 388 marks and has been called to Kisii High School, but his parents are unable to take him to school. His father, the family's breadwinner, relies on his meagre earnings as a boda boda rider to make ends meet.
He is appealing to well-wishers to help him pay his school fees so that he can realise his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said last week that just over 70 percent of the 1,400,329 learners admitted to Form One have reproted to school and there are fears that those yet to report are at risk of dropping out.
Humphrey Bianker Shalome is one of them. She dreams of becoming a doctor. But that dream could soon turn into a nightmare as the bright but needy pupil is on the verge of missing out on admission to Ng'iya Girls School in Siaya County.
Despite scoring 380 marks in last year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) from a public primary school in Homa Bay County, her parents - who work menial jobs to make ends meet - are unable to afford the fees required to attend Ng'iya Girls.
"Where am I going to get the nearly Sh70,000 needed to get the girl into the national school? I am even struggling to put food on the table," said Shalome's father, Humphrey Dancun.
Also called to the same school is Saly Tracy Adhiambo, who scored 380 marks at Stevens Academics Community Primary School in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Embakasi, Nairobi County.
Saly Tracy Adhiambo, who scored 380 marks in the 2023 KCPE. She has been offered a place at Ng'iya Girls High School, but her single mother cannot afford the fees.
The 13-year-old has yet to join Ng'iya Girls because her mother cannot afford to pay for her secondary education.
"She is always crying and I don't know how to help her because I can't afford to pay her school fees," said a tearful Lornah Achieng, Adhiambo’s mother.
Jenevive Nnaji Dancun is in a similar situation, having scored 373 marks in the KCPE from Lwanda Magwar Primary School in Karungu South East, Nyatike Constituency, and has been called to join Ogande Girls High School.
"I am physically challenged and to make matters worse, I don't have any source of income to keep me in school. I am appealing for support to help me take the girl to school," said her father, Dancun Maroko.
