School’s stunning 15 sets of twins

By NIKKO TANUI

Kericho County: Twins, twins and more twins. At AGC Lilloch Secondary School in Kipkelion West constituency of Kericho County, this is the unique scenario.

In total, there are 15 pairs of twins in the school, with one of the Form Two students, Mildred Cheptoo, coming from a family of triplets. However, her siblings are in primary school.

The many sets of twins in the school that was established in 2004 make it perhaps the only secondary school in the country with such a high number.

And this number could have been higher but two sets of twins left the school after sitting their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations last year.

Mistaken identity

How did the district school, located on the fringes of Tindiret Forest, 60km from Kericho town, find itself with a record number of twins with a population of 835 students?

School Principal Robert Korir says it is mere coincidence. “While selecting Form One students, we usually have no idea that we will end up admitting twins. We usually send out admission letters only to be surprised when twins show up at the gate,” Korir says.

Though most of the twins come from Kipkelion and Kericho, some come from as far as Nandi.

Korir says the school administration did not know the exact number of sets of twins in the school until, out of curiosity, a check was carried out recently.

“We have four sets of twins in Form Four and three sets in Form Three, Two and One. The other twins could be one class ahead or behind each other,” Korir says.

One such pair not in the same class are 16-year-old Boniface Kiprono and Yvonne Chepkemoi who come from Kiptere in Belgut constituency.

Chepkemoi is in Form Four while her twin, Kiprono, is in Form Three. She says they got separated in Standard Eight but she was happy when Kiprono eventually joined her in the school.

The same applies to 16-year-old Stephen Omondi and Phoebe Anyango. Omondi is Form Three while his twin is in Form One.

Curiously, for each of these pairs, the girls are in the upper classes.

Apart from most of the twins sharing the same career aspirations and having an interest in similar subjects, they also share the same passion for extra-curricular activities.

Form Four students Titus and Ezekiel Bett, 19, both love athletics and actively compete.

Titus is Kipkelion district’s 200m race champion while Ezekiel is the national decathlon bronze medallist.

Principal Korir says he and his staff regard the presence of these twins as a blessing.

Chemistry and mathematics teacher Moses Chirchir says they expect that the twins who are set to sit this year’s KCSE examinations will attain high grades.

He humorously says there have been many cases of mistaken identity, especially among the identical twins. “Much as I have tried, there are sets of twins whom I still cannot tell apart to this day,” he says.

Apart from having so many twins, the school is also unique in the sense that some of the students are already parents. The school has seven mothers and three fathers.

Mercy Chelangat, 18, is a proud wife and mother of one.

Ms Chelangat, a Form Three student who dreams of being a nurse, says she decided to continue with her education in spite of being married, in an effort to change the fortunes of her family.

Chelangat, who is one of the best performing students in her class, says she manages to juggle her home responsibilities and studies thanks to her mother-in-law who helps her take care of her seven-month-old baby.

Bronze medallist

A fellow Form Three student, 26-year-old Robert Osoro, has a wife and is the father of one child.

Osoro says this is his second stab at achieving his life dreams after dropping out of high school as a Form Two student of Dagoretti High school in Nairobi in 2007, due to lack of school fees.

He says after sharing his dream of returning to school, his wife and extended family supported him.

The principal says they decided to give young mothers who had passed in their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations a chance to join secondary school.

“School is all about changing the life of an individual; that is why we accommodate this special group — we want them to be able to realise their potential,” Korir says.

The school, which sits on five acre, also boasts several high achieving athletes.

One such student is 17-year-old IAAF World Youth Championship steeplechase silver medallist, Nicholas Kiptanui Bett. He won the medal recently at the championships held in Ukraine.

Another athlete, Sheila Chepngetich, is the Africa Junior Championship 1,500m bronze medallist in an event held in Mauritius.

Student Governing Council president, Churchill Vigil, also comes from the school.

The school also actively participates in several programmes to assist needy members of the surrounding community.

“We often mobilise our students to participate in activities to build the community. Last year, the school community made a contribution and we went out and built a decent house for a poor man who was living in a dilapidated structure,” the principal says.