Candidates to Miss KCSE Results for Agriculture Paper Two
Two candidates for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) of Poi Mixed Day-boarding Secondary School in Baringo North sub-county to miss KCSE Results for Agriculture Paper Two after they failed to write the exams over alleged theft of mattresses at the school.
Benson Chebi and Bismarck Ruto failed to sit their final agriculture paper two exam, because they were threatened that they will be arrested by the police officers who were manning the exams for allegedly stealing two mattresses from the store.
The third suspect, Mark who ran away also came back to write his final exam paper and luckily slipped out of the hands of the police officers later.
“That morning on Thursday, we woke up in a happy mood in the hope that we would finish our KCSE exams well,” said Ruto, a one-day scholar of the institution.
“If we fail to get our KCSE results it means that our life is spoiled for no apparent reason,” Cheby said.
He said he was resting his mind at school that morning, waiting for the paper, when he was suddenly called into the principal’s office, only to be asked to surrender two mattresses stolen from the school’s store.
“Although we honestly told him we never committed a crime, he ordered us to kneel, beat us up before asking the police to arrest us,” Ruto said.
Further, the boy said that he was taken by the police to his hostel and rented house, where they conducted a thorough search, but the said stolen mattresses were not found.
He said that he was told to return to class, while the police from the Moikuto were ordered to bring handcuffs to arrest him, but for fear of being taken into custody without fault; “We had to disappear and run for our lives,” he said.
“I am a day scholar living with my brother at the Poi Trading Center and I also wonder how I would have managed to break into the school store to steal a mattress under the watch of the store keeper or the school janitor ,” said Ruto.
Confirming the incident, Kiprono Lagat, Baringo North Sub-County Education Officer, said that the two boys would never get another chance to sit for the agriculture paper again.
“Unless their parents appeal to the Ministry of Education and KNEC, students can appear for the exam next year,” he said.
The boys and their parents are now appealing to Education Cabinet Secretary Professor Magoha to intervene and investigate the matter.
“Because of course how can my child fail to write their final exam just because of a stolen mattress, even if they stole it, they should be left to finish their paper, then we parents may be called to pay,” said a devastated James Kiptala. He is one of the parents.
He reiterated that his child was the scholar of the day, wondering how he had managed to break into the school to steal a mattress from the school store.
Another parent, Pamela Ruto, accused the school administration of harassing her child and making him miss final exams.
“The principal told me that my son is scared of exams and disappears. I sold all the family land and livestock to pay him school fees, thinking he could finish his studies and come home to help me, but what am I listening to now? she questioned.
Amidst the pain, the government should intervene and help her and her son get justice, she said.
Milka Rotumoi, a paralegal worker, heard about the incident and she did some investigations on the matter. On finding out that the boys were threatened and could not write their final exam she was shocked.
Terming the incident as unfortunate, Rotumoi called on humanitarian agencies to intervene and help the affected families get justice.
