Schools snub bright girl who scored 425 marks

By SILAH KOSKEI

Kenya: She sat for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE) last year and scored 425 marks but despite her sterling performance Pauline Muhonja Senelwa has not secured a place in any national school.

Muhonja says she is frustrated after failing to get a place in any of her dream schools.

“After selecting Moi Girls Eldoret, Kenya High and Starehe Girls as my top national schools of choice, I knew I would get a place in one of them but to my surprise, I never got any notification,” she said.

Speaking to The Standard in Eldoret Tuesday, the former student at  Booker Academy in Mumias  said her hopes were now dashed.

Muhonja said her hopes of becoming an oncologist, to fulfil her dream of treating cancer patients, had started fading.

“It is disappointing to work hard expecting smooth transition to secondary school only to miss a chance due to unexplained reasons, yet the government says that all students have a right to education,” complained the student.

She revealed she had made numerous visits to the schools of her choice, but the respective administrations had not solved her problem.

Her father, Prof Kingiri Senelwa,  a lecturer at University of Eldoret, wondered why the Ministry of Education  did not give his daughter a slot in secondary school despite her outstanding performance.

He revealed that the girl performed beyond the family’s expectations, as they expected her to score less than  420 marks.

“She passed her exams beyond our expectations and our excitement saw us donate a bull to the school to celebrate her achievements. Little did we know that our happiness would be short-lived,” he said.

Numerous visits

Prof Kingiri said her daughter’s performance should have earned her a place in a national school straight away.

“Pauline has been winning accolades by representing her school in nationals through her talents in music and drama and the reality that she will not be joining the school of her choice has demoralised us,” added Prof Kingiri.

He said he had made numerous visits to the Ministry of Education offices in Nairobi seeking assistance on the matter in vain.

“Officials at the ministry blocked me from meeting the Cabinet Secretary, they have been giving us false reassurances about our daughter’s issue and we are worried and do not know what to tell our daughter,” he added.

He explained that the current challenge facing his family had aggravated his ill health and  he was forced to spend a lot of time in hospital.