John Mwalili still keeps the admission letter carefully folded in a small metal box at their modest home in Kware, Nairobi, as if afraid that too much handling might cause the dream it carries to slip away.
The 15-year-old, a former pupil at Zau School in Athi River, Machakos County, is among the brightest students produced by the first cohort to sit the Grade 9 national examinations under the Competency-Based Curriculum.
When the results were released, John scored an impressive 64 points, outshining his classmates by a wide margin, with the student who followed him trailing by more than 10 points.
That performance earned him a coveted placement at Alliance High School, one of Kenya’s most prestigious national schools.
Months before sitting his exams, John had dared to aim high. While filling in his cluster one choices, he selected Alliance High School first, followed by Nairobi School and Upper Hill School. At the time, he was still studying at Zau School in Athi River, far from his family’s home in Kware.
Each school day demanded sacrifice. John would leave home as early as 4am to travel to Athi River and only return at around 9pm.
“I knew education was my only chance,” he said.
Students admitted to Alliance High School reported on January 12. More than a week later, John remains at home in Kware, watching as his peers settle into classrooms and lessons move on without him.
Brief celebration, then reality check
When the placement message arrived, the family celebrated briefly before reality set in. Almost immediately, John made a painful decision.
On realising that his parents could not afford the school fees and requirements, he began scavenging at the Kware dumpsite to try and raise money for his own education.
A kilo of recovered plastic bottles goes for just Sh3. In one week alone, John has managed to collect about 100 kilos, earning Sh300, an amount that underscores the vast gap between his effort and the cost of joining school.
Alliance High School charges Sh53,500 per year in school fees, but that is only part of the burden. Including the mandatory uniform, bedding, cutlery, personal effects, toiletries, tuition materials and extra clothing, the total cost of joining the school, according to his father Nicholas Mwalili, stands at about Sh120,000.
“It is not just the fees. When you add everything required, it becomes impossible for me to raise on my own,” Mr Mwalili said.
So far, the father has only managed to buy a metal box, the traditional item new students carry to boarding school. The uniform is yet to be purchased and can only be issued once John is formally admitted.
Nicholas Mwalili, father to John Mwalili, who scored 64 points in the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results during an interview at their home in Kware, Nairobi, on January 18, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
The family has sought help from local leaders, including the Kware MCA and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, but those efforts have hit a snag, yielding no tangible support as reporting dates draw closer.
Life in Kware has been unforgiving. John’s days are now split between waiting for a breakthrough and returning to the dumpsite, sifting through waste for plastic bottles while his age mates sit in class.
“I would read whenever I got a chance. I kept believing this situation would change,” he said.
With options narrowing, Mr Mwalili is now considering a painful alternative. He is mulling over travelling to Alliance High School to request the principal to write a transfer letter so that his son can join Kware Secondary School, a day school that is far more affordable but far less resourced.
For John, the thought is devastating.
“It will crush my spirits. Alliance was my dream. Nevertheless, even if I go to Kware Secondary, I will work hard. I believe I can still get a good grade,” he said.
John dreams of becoming a doctor, motivated not by prestige but by a desire to help the vulnerable and uplift his family from poverty.
“I want to help people who cannot afford treatment,” he said. “And I want my family to have a better life,” he said.
John Mwalili (left), who scored 64 points in the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results, with his father Nicholas Mwalili during an interview at their home in Kware, Nairobi on January 18, 2026.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
As the days pass and lessons continue without him, John is making a direct appeal to Kenyans of goodwill.
“I am not asking for everything at once. I just need the minimum required to join school. If I can just join school, I have faith the rest will follow automatically,” he said.
