John Mwalili and Martha Wanjiru's long wait to join Alliance High and Alliance Girls schools is finally over. Hours after their stories were published by the Nation , Kenyans from different walks of life and government institutions came together to renew hope for them and their struggling families.
John, 16, who had been placed at the prestigious national school but failed to report due to lack of school fees, was admitted after unexpected support came through from the Nairobi County Government. The intervention enabled his family to clear his first-year school fees and purchase all the required items for admission.
The support, John’s father Nicholas Mwalili said, came at a moment when the family had all but lost hope.
“Buy all the requirements he needed to join school. I am beyond delighted. May God bless the governor (Johnson Sakaja) and all the well-wishers who have reached out,” he said.
In addition to the county government’s support, bread-making company Broadways has also reached out to the family to help ensure John completes his secondary school education.
Mr Mwalili said the assistance reached them just in time, as he had already resigned himself to the reality that his son would miss out on the opportunity of joining Alliance High School. On the very day John was admitted, he said, he had planned to seek a transfer for his son to Kware Secondary School, a day school closer to home.
The father recounted how painful the decision had been, knowing his son had earned his place at one of the country’s most competitive schools through sheer hard work.
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
John’s story struck a chord with Kenyans after it emerged that, upon receiving his admission letter, he realised his father could not afford the fees. Instead of waiting helplessly at home, he took matters into his own hands. The teenager began scavenging for plastic bottles at the Kware dumpsite, collecting and selling them in a desperate bid to raise part of his school fees.
“I did that to help my parents raise my school fees. I could not just sit idle, yet it is my school fee being sought,” he told the Nation in an earlier interview.
Within a week, John had collected about 100 kilos of plastic bottles, earning Sh300 — a sum painfully small compared to the more than Sh100,000 required for him to report to Alliance High School. Yet his determination, captured in that simple act, resonated widely and prompted an outpouring of goodwill.
Martha's fees paid for a year
John’s case mirrors that of Martha Wanjiru, another top-performing student whose dreams were briefly stalled by poverty. Martha, who had been admitted to Alliance Girls High School, failed to report initially due to financial constraints but finally joined the school on Friday after well-wishers stepped in following coverage of her plight in the Daily Nation .
Her father, Daniel Muchoki Mwangi, said a well-wisher paid her full-year tuition fee of Sh53,554 and also catered for other necessities, including her school uniform, lifting a huge burden off the family.
Martha Wanjiru from Parklands Primary School (centre) with her father Daniel Muchoki, and mother Catherine Njeri during an interview at the Nation Centre in Nairobi on January 15, 2026. She scored 68 points in the 2025 KJSEA results and has been unable to report to her dream school, Alliance Girls', due to lack of school fees.
“Kenyans have been very supportive in helping Martha following the highlighting of her plight on the Daily Nation . The girl is successful in school as we speak,” said Mr Mwangi.
Martha had emerged the top student at Parkroad Primary School, beating 210 others and scoring 68 out of a possible 72 points. Encouraged by her teacher, the family had reached out to Nation Media Group as the reporting deadline of January 16, 2026, drew dangerously close.
Before help came, frustration had set in. The family had applied for sponsorship from several institutions, including the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, KCB Foundation and Family Bank Foundation, but none of the applications was successful. Even a visit to the Nairobi Governor’s office proved futile, as they were informed at the reception lobby that the sponsorship window had already closed.
While John and Martha are now settled in the schools of their dreams, many other high-performing students remain stranded at home, hoping for a similar stroke of luck.
At Kapkenduiwo Comprehensive School in Uasin Gishu County, two bright pupils are staring at the prospect of missing out on secondary education despite excelling in national examinations.
Samuel Matekwa.
Photo credit: Pool
Samuel Matekwa, 16, scored 64 points in Grade 9 and emerged as the top student at Kapkenduiwo Comprehensive School. His performance earned him placement at Chewoiyet High School, a national school in West Pokot County. Weeks after schools opened, Samuel is still at home.
“I do not feel nice, people are already learning, I have not touched a single thing,” he said.
Samuel lives with his single mother, Elizabeth Ayuma, and his four-year-old brother. To report to school, the family must raise Sh53,500 in school fees, in addition to buying beddings, a mattress and a box — expenses his mother said are beyond her reach.
“We have nothing and he was the top scorer in his school. I am confused, and I do not know what to do. I have walked until my feel are swollen,” Ms Ayuma said. “I have gone to friends but they too have their own children reporting to school. I have been to the church but no help.”
Despite the hardship, she said her son has refused to give up hope.
“The good thing is the boy is not giving up and he even encourages me not to give up saying he will go to school.”
Samuel dreams of becoming a civil engineer, said he has an aptitude for building things.
A similar struggle confronts Titus Densils, 14, who scored 60 points and was the third-best student in his school. He was placed at Goseta Boys School, a boarding school in Trans Nzoia County, but has been unable to report due to a lack of Sh54,600 in school fees.
Titus Densils.
Photo credit: Pool
“Aiii… life at home is very difficult, I do not even know how to explain,” Titus said.
He lives in Langas with his single mother, Jackline Munyasa, and his two younger siblings, aged 10 and five.
“I have no ability to take him to school. I am a single mother struggling to raise 54,000 for school fees, and the other requirements, it becomes very expensive,” Ms Munyasa said, appealing to well-wishers to help her son realise his dream of becoming a medical doctor.
In Kilifi County, Ali Mwango is also yet to join Voi Boys Senior School in Taita Taveta County. The 18-year-old, who lost his father, scored 53 points at Muriachakwe Junior School but remains at home as his mother struggles to raise school fees.
“It has been a tough journey to even sit for the exams, as I have been in and out of school. Even though it has been many years, it is my passion to get an education to be able to help my struggling mother, who has seen me soldier on,” Mwango said.
His guardian, Kadenge Kalu Chengo, who has supported the family since the death of Ali’s father, said he is unable to fund his secondary education.
“I would have loved to see Ali get a proper education, but I don’t have the money to take him to school. It pains me to see him in the current situation,” Mr Chengo said.
Other affected students yet to join secondary schools include Veronica Afandi, who scored 67 points at Mutumbu Primary School in Gem and was admitted to Asumbi Girls High School; Emmanuel Otieno, who scored 67 points at Arya Primary School in Kisumu and earned placement at Mang’u High School; and Vaida Akinyi, also with 67 points from Okode Primary School in Kisumu, admitted to St Francis Rang’ala Girls High School.
Another pupil, Pamela Odhiambo, scored 42 points at Nyangoto Primary School and was admitted to Lela Secondary School but remains at home.
Beyond these cases, the Nation has a list of more than 50 bright students from Mukuru Kwa Njenga who have yet to join secondary schools due to a lack of school fees.
