When she dropped out of school 22 years ago, Jelios Mugure Kirima lost all hope of ever acquiring any academic papers or pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse.
All that has now changed as the 40-year-old mother of two is among the thousands of candidates sitting the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
At Gilgil Township Secondary School, where she is writing her KCSE exams as a private candidate, the fruit vendor, whose son is a college student, might easily be mistaken for a supervisor.
Unlike other candidates at the school, the mother of two is not required to be in school uniform.
When the Nation caught up with her, she had just arrived home after writing her Kiswahili Paper One exam. She was busy reading for the next day’s paper.
She explained that she dropped out of school at Form Two to take care of her ailing mother and that its only her determination and thirst for knowledge that saw her go back to complete her secondary education.
Sadly, her mother passed on and the role of raising her 10 siblings fell on her as their father was also unwell and could hardly work to provide for the family.
She recalls that as she set out to take care of her siblings, she vowed to go back to school some day for a shot at a better future.
She later married her boyfriend, who was back then living in Turbo, Eldoret. The 2007/8 post-election violence however forced them to move to Nakuru.
She had by this time taken in her siblings and did everything possible to ensure they did not drop out of school like her.
Her journey back to the classroom began in 2015 when she joined other students and hired a private tutor who would teach them from Monday to Saturday.
However, the tuition sessions lasted only one year as the teacher was transferred. This prompted Ms Mugure to enrol for adult classes that ran from 8am to 1pm on weekdays.
This, too, did not last as six months later, her teacher stopped attending classes. She had to look for another teacher and luckily, she got one in 2019.
The teacher, a university student, also halted her services after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in 2020. The sessions only resumed last year.
“Despite the ups and downs, l still held onto hope that one day I would complete what I started ... I thank God I am now sitting for my exams. I hope that I will perform well,” Jelios said.
“During school holidays, I would ask students from the neighbourhood to help me with some of the topics I had difficulties with, especially mathematics problems,” she added.
Jelios walks two kilometres from the exam centre to her home to check on her two-year-old daughter after the day’s test.
She is optimistic that she will score good grades despite the challenges she has faced and that she will go to college to study nursing or criminology.
“I have a son who is currently in college. He helps me with my studies. I also want to show people out there that it’s not too late to study,” she said. “If you get an opportunity to go to school, grab it. Many of my private studies colleagues dropped out but I remained focused.”
Jelios was born and raised in Kinangop, Nyandarua County. She went to Mwiteithia Primary School, where she studied up to Class Six before transferring to Mbirithi Primary School.
She managed to score 351 marks, which earned her a place at Muruaki Secondary School.
“After my mother passed on, our father grew very weak and could no longer work. I couldn’t just sit and see my siblings struggling. As their elder sister I had to take them in. My husband detested the idea, saying that it was a burden, yet I was the one providing for the family,” said Ms Mugure.
Through selling fruits, she has managed to educate her siblings and is happy that their lastborn is about to graduate from Masinde Muliro University with a degree in criminology. Her other brother works as an aviation mechanic. The others are also engaged in business or employment.
