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Visually impaired boy beats odds to score B+ in KCSE

Thursday, December 19th, 2019 18:11 | By
Stephens Kiragu student from Njumbi high school in Murang'a.

When Cabinet secretary for Education Prof George Magoha was announcing the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, he recognized the candidates with special needs who performed well.  

Stephens Kiragu, a student from Njumbi high school in Murang'a County, was among these candidates who got special recognition.

Kiragu suffers from short sightedness, but due to sheer determination he decided to carry on with his studies.

According to the boy's mother, Ester Wamuhu, the problem was detected when he was in class four but he managed to go through primary school education.

However, when he joined the secondary school, he could not cope with the condition which saw him taken to various hospitals to seek medical attention.

"We visited various hospitals and he was given glasses to aid his vision," she said.

Wamuhu, who is a casual labourer in Nairobi, said Kiragu's did not dampen his spirit to pursue education.

"From his childhood, he was a hard working child and he had passion for education," she added.

On his part, Kiragu who aspires to be a pilot says he was aiming to get grade  A- (minus) which he only missed with two points after scoring a B+ of 72 points.

He said his life in school was not a smooth one as he encountered a handful of challenges.

He said, when he joined Form One he was allocated to sit at the back and he could not see the blackboard well.

This forced him to rely on his colleagues who would copy notes for him after classes.

"I tried convincing some of my classmates we switch sitting position but they refused but eventually our class teacher managed to convince one of them to give me a seat in the front," he said.

Kiragu says the support from teachers made his studies easier though there are some who used to mishandle him.

"Some were openly rude to me claiming that I was pretending to have poor eyesight but I managed to get over their ridicule," he added.

Kiragu did his exams just like any other student though his was a large print.

The 18-year-old boy, who is the last born in the family of four, has become the pride of the family and the neighborhood too especially after his name was given a national accord.

He hails from Gathinja, in Kiharu Murang'a but his family resides in Nairobi.

He attended James Gichuru primary school in Nairobi and he scored 366 in KCPE in 2015.

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