By BONIFACE ONGERI
In1994, Fatuma Hajji, a top performer in that yearâs Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) got married after her parents failed to raise her secondary school fees. Twelve years later and with six children, she registered as a private candidate and sat her KCSE in a boysâ only school in Garissa. She passed to join university.
When the Boys Town High School class of 2008 in Garissa County was sitting their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), they had unique candidates sharing their exam hall.
Boys only school
Fatuma was one of the seven female candidates in the boysâ only school. While it was common knowledge that the other six were repeating their KCSE after performing poorly in their former schools, little was known of Fatuma.
Fatuma Hajji during the interview. [PHOTOS: BONIFACE ONGERI/STANDARD]
With several children to raise, many in her situation would have given up on the dream of acquiring a high school certificate.
By her own account, she nurtured the burning desire to one day continue where she had left. Today, Garissa County is celebrating her extraordinary achievement that appeared shattered by lack of finances.
Besides a remarkable personal comeback in 2008 when she enrolled as a private candidate in a boysâ secondary school where she triumphed, Fatuma is also celebrating the feat of her children joining national schools. Last year, her first-born son Mohammed Keynan made it to Alliance High school after emerging top in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in Garissa County. And this year, her second born daughter Samira Keynan reported to Limuru Girls Secondary School after emerging the best KCPE in North Eastern Province.
"I didnât join secondary school straight away from primary school, but I had always nursed the desire that one day I would. I was keen to ensure my children progress. I got married by choice and I am happy that I fell into the arms of my husband who understands the importance of education," she says.
The events in 1994 could easily break anyoneâs resolve but not Fatumaâs. "After I did well in my KCPE that year I was admitted to Moi Girls High School, but I could not raise school fees. My father had died. My mother could not raise the required amount, and my relatives could not help. One of my uncles told me to sell my admission to a national school to someone else, ignorant of the fact it was not transferable.
"Back then, bursaries and scholarships were unheard of, so I opted to get married in 1995 because there was no one to help out," she recalls.
