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The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results for the 2022 grade 8 graduating class are out. There were a total of 1,233,852 students that sat for the national exam. Of these candidates 620,965 (50.32%) were boys and 612,887 (49.67%) were girls. This is very encouraging because it is evident that, at primary level, the country has achieved gender parity.
While kids who scored high marks are excited on the hope of being selected to join the most prestigious high schools in the country, this joy for some is short-lived. Some will know that their fate is sealed once the school fees is reviewed by end of January 2023. Additionally, in the next four years approximately 20% will not be graduating high school and the biggest contributor is lack of school fees. Most affected are girls from rural areas where parents cannot raise the US$1.50 per day to keep their kids at school.
The dreams of these young kids are killed early and the hope of digging their families out of poverty become more daunting.
It is well known that education is the greatest tool to fight poverty. It gives kids the ability to become something and make decisions that allows them to earn and sustain an income in future.
If you are a believer in the power of child education, we call upon you to become a champion of education in Kenya. Help us celebrate these young dreamers.
We do not have to keep all the million kids at school. We just need to start with one dreamer.