For Jane Chesire, it all started in 1987 when she joined the Teachers Training College.

After finishing her course in 1989, she knew that she was halfway towards attaining her lifelong dream.

You see, she really wanted to become a special education teacher. At the time, information on how to achieve this was very minimal.

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It was in 1993 while teaching at Menengai Primary School in Nakuru that officials from the Ministry of Education came to the school with two visually impaired children seeking to enrol the two into the school.

Out of 31 teachers, the Head teacher at the time chose Ms Jane Chesire.

With the help of Education Officer from the Ministry of Education Mr. Samuel Ogwang, Jane was able to learn the basics in teaching the visually impaired children in a span of three hours.

Just like that, the two students were enrolled in the school and under her tutelage.

In 1994, Jane enrolled to the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) where she got specialised training of the visually impaired students for a period of three months.

In 1997 she went back to the same Institute for her Diploma.

From 1994 to date, Jane has been dealing with matters relating to children associated with special education from identifying children who are visually impaired, to rescuing those locked in houses due to stigma and creating sensitization and awareness on the issue of children with disabilities.

According to Jane, in 1998 the integration of special education into primary and high schools had started.

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While all this was happening, she was still teaching Menengai Primary school. In 2002 she went to Kenyatta University to do her Bachelors degree and graduated in 2005 when she returned to Menengai Primary School.

It was at this time that she started getting requests to join the Ministry of Education as an education officer and also as a head teacher but she declined all these positions.

“I wanted to remain closer to the children who I hold dear to my heart,” she reveals.

In 2016, Jane moved from Menengai Primary School to her current work station at Milimani Primary School.

Here, she had the sole purpose of setting up a boarding school for the special education unit.

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True to this, she was able to set up the first boarding school for children with special needs in Nakuru County.

"Every day when I wake up, I become more convinced that teaching children with special needs is what I was brought on this earth to do and I will be do this until I retire," she says.

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Jane Chesire: A Nakuru teacher with a heart for children with special needs

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Bret Sanya