My performance is a miracle, says top girl

By Standard team

Meru, Kenya: Joy Kathure Kinoti’s reserved demeanour does not denote the success she has achieved by beating 800,000 other candidates to top last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination.

The 14-year-old pupil at Fred’s Academy in Meru was surprised by the outcome and is still trying to comprehend the good news.

“It wasn’t in my wildest dreams that I will be number one in the country. This is just good news that is yet to sink in,” said a jovial Kathure.

Speaking at Fred’s Academy accompanied by her parents Jotham Kinoti and Mary, teachers, her colleagues and neighbours; Kathure said it was a miracle to achieve such a feat. She said the impressive results were as a result of hard work, discipline, focus, prayer and teamwork. After achieving the feat, Kathure sees her dream of becoming an engineer now closer to reality.

To add icing to the cake, two more candidates from the same school were among the top ten pupils countrywide, underlining the nature of competition in the school.

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Favourite subjects

Kathure said she would like to join Alliance Girls’ High School and later pursue engineering at university. Kathure, who enrolled at Fred’s Academy from nursery school to Class Eight, said her favourite subjects were mathematics and English.

She urged other parents to encourage and counsel their children positively to enable them get good results. Her father, who was visibly excited, said the performance was a miracle.

At the same time, Boniface Mwaura from Kiambu County was among the three top candidates in the 2012 KCPE exams, earning 430 marks out of the possible 500.

The boy from Utafiti Day and Boarding Primary and Nursery School, a public institution in Kikuyu constituency, was all smiles when he visited the school on Monday.

Mwaura said he was delighted when he heard Education Minister Mutula Kilonzo call out his name among the top candidates countrywide.

“It has been so tough, but I worked hard and the teachers and parents also played their part,” said the boy accompanied by his mother.

Mwaura said he had sustained a fracture during the exam period. He said he would like to proceed to Alliance Boys High School and later on pursue an engineering course in an institution of higher of learning.

Wachira Njomo, a pupil at Uthiru Genesis Day and Boarding School was above the moon after getting his results.

“I am happy and excited that I’m among the champions of the 2012 KCPE examination and I promise to work even harder in the next phase of my education,” said Njomo.