Top pupil loses his sight ahead of test

Parents of a pupil in Homa Bay County are a worried lot after their son lost his sight just before the national exams which start on Tuesday.

Isaiah Okoth Otieno, 14, of St Patrick’s Makongeni in Homa Bay District is said to have fallen ill while in Class Four and his condition worsened as the clock ticked towards the national exam.

“I thought it was an allergy as he used to scratch the eyes frequently,” the boy’s mother Sophie Otieno said on Sunday.

She added that by the time her son was in Class Six, the situation worsened and he had difficulty reading writing on the blackboard.

“We sought medication and were given a special lens that cost Sh20,000,” said Ms Otieno.

She added that come third term this year, her son’s condition worsened and he developed some strange fluid on the cornea that blurred his vision.

“We again sought help at the Kikuyu Mission Hospital where we were asked to pay Sh400,000 for an operation,” she said.

The surgery was to be done early this month but when the exams were rescheduled, they had to postpone the trip.

In last term’s divisional exams, Otieno was the top pupil in Urban Zone with more than 400 marks.

Last month, he took three hours to complete a Mathematics paper, to the shock of many.

The school head teacher, Ms Benter Nyangi, termed the top candidate’s predicament as a tragedy to the entire school community.

“We are sill at a loss as to why fate should be so harsh to such a young and humble boy. As a school, ours is to pray that he regains his sight,” she said, adding that she had notified the local education officials on the boy’s plight.

Otieno who spoke to the Nation on Sunday was optimistic that the examinations council would come to his rescue.