Agony for Nakuru girl unable to raise fees for national school

A girl’s dream of furthering her education is now being hampered by lack of fees to join a national school.

Liza Neema Monyancha scored a total of 375 marks out of 500 with four As in the five subjects she took in her standard eight exams in 2013.

This brought instant joy to her family.

But as things stand now, the joy turned out to be short lived.

The girl who emerged top of her colleagues at St Anthony Primary School in Nakuru County where she sat her exams and has been admitted to Bahati Girls High School, a national school.

However, a strange twist of events has turned the minor’s and her family’s sweet dream of success into a nightmare.

Her peasant parents are unable to raise the required school fees with her mother saying she has applied to several scholarship programmes without success.

INITIALLY NOT SELECTED

First, Liza was initially not selected to join any school and her father’s frantic efforts to find out what the problem was bore no fruit.

However, last Tuesday, she received a letter of admission from Bahati Girls High School.

The fourth born child in a family of six children says her mother whom they live with in Nakuru’s Whitehouse estate earns a living from selling fast foods at a kiosk.

She says her father also has struggled to bring them up by doing odd jobs to bring food on the table and support their education.

“I have completed my primary school education through God’s grace.

My parents cannot raise the required school fees. Even my elder brother never completed his education due to the same predicament,” narrated Liza.

The young girl says her ambition of becoming a surgeon may just be a mirage as her parents are not able to raise her high school fees.

REPORT ON FEBRUARY 5

She is required to report on Wednesday February 5, 2014 after paying all the school fees required for the first term.

Besides, she must buy other personal items including school uniform.

Her family had banked their hopes on Equity Bank’s Wings to Fly scholarships, KCB and Co-operative Bank Scholarships but they were late to apply, says her mother Naomi Wanjiru.

“I had no clue that there were scholarships from banks to support needy students pursue their education,” she adds.

According to her former head teacher Ms Stella, she was not just good in class work but she also won accolades for performing well in drama festivals since she was in standard five.

Her mother told Nation.co.ke that she cannot save enough for her bright daughter continue with her studies because she earns too little and has many mouths to feed.

She is calling on well-wishers to help in the education of her daughter.

“She has done her best but I feel she may not live to fulfill her dream due to lack of school fees,” she added.