Last month, social media was flooded with photos of parents standing next to their children who had just joined form one.

The parents wore wide smiles while the students had new crisp school uniform and faces that showed both anxiety and excitement.

However, amidst this palpable joy is a group of distressed parents, unable to raise the money required to send their children to secondary school.

Mtaa Wangu got to speak to one such parent from Subukia, Rose Moraa, mother to 13-year-old Joyce Kemunto.

Read: Nakuru teachers devise creative ways to accommodate 'excess' form one students

Her solemn voice alone tells of the helplessness the mother of three feels, as her daughter who scored 352 marks continues to stay at home.

She narrates how all her efforts to raise the required school fees have ended up in deep frustration.

“Joyce was called to Kisima Girls High School in Samburu, but unfortunately due to financial constraints, I was unable to enrol her into the school," Moraa says.

"I tried applying for the Elimu Scholarship but we did not get it. I then tried to apply for a bursary but was informed that Joyce would have to be admitted to a school first. The school requires me to pay Sh. 53,554 for my daughter to get admission,” Moraa says as she sighs, briefly disappearing into her thoughts.

Asked why raising this money has become an uphill task, Moraa says she is a single mother and a casual labourer earning between Sh 300 and Sh 500 per day.

“I also reached out to family and friends but they have not been able to come through for me," she tells Mtaa Wangu.

According to her, the other two children who are studying in day schools and in form four are on bursary.

"The two children have been supported through school with bursaries and the extended family. I am sometimes given bags of maize by friends and family which I sell and get some little money to support them," laments Moraa.

Joyce has a dream of becoming a lawyer and says that she would like to follow in the footsteps of Chief Justice Martha Koome.

With no help in sight, Moraa says she had opted to enrol Joyce in a day school, but even raising that money has been an uphill task.

For now, Moraa remains hopeful that someone will come to the rescue of her daughter and see to fruition her dream of one day addressing Joyce as Wakili.

sanyabret@gmail.com

Also Read: Quest 4 Education: The scathing court battles between Nakuru schools and suppliers

Quest 4 Education: Needy student who scored 352 marks, unable to join Secondary school

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Bret Sanya