By Lydia Ngoolo
In the pursuit to quench the thirst for education, two school dropouts have gone back to class despite their age and parental responsibility.
The two are among others who have highly benefitted from adult education.
Jeniffer Muambi from Mbooni West could not take it any longer when she missed around four jobs because of failure to meet credentials requirements.
She dropped school at class eight and could not continue due to lack of school fees. She later joined Nduluku Bible College between 1987 and 1991.
She got married and had children but she could still not get jobs despite having completed her theology class and qualified just like the others.
“We could be called for jobs, when asked for papers; I only had my theological certificate. Jobs I could have secured without much problem were far from me. I decided to go for my certificate through Adult education.” Muambi said.
Someone came to her aid and organized for her and other 12 adults on how to attend classes two hours a day.
She was attending classes as her first born son was in high school. They completed at the same time and she attained grade C minus of 36 points.
“It was hard for me. My son underperformed but repeated and later became a teacher. I had my pastoral duties, I was chaplain in two secondary schools, mother, wife and I had to perform other duties in the society,” added Muambi.
Muambi joined Scott Theological College and attained First Class degree on July 5 2019. She feels she attained what she wanted in life. It is all about determination in the end, she says.
She has therefore called upon the government and other institutions to employ people who have gone through such struggles. She also said there is need for more teachers as many people need more empowerment.
Another beneficiary of ACE is Steven Githinji who pursues a degree in Egerton University. He went to a school in Nyeri and after going for strike, he stayed out of school for two terms, by the time they sat for national exam, he failed and started searching for casual jobs.
“I moved from Nyeri to Makueni. A friend introduced me to adult education. I used to go to class between 2pm to 5pm after going to work,” said Githinji.
He observed that adult education creates a new chance and gives equal opportunity to everyone as it helps one to become self-reliance among other benefits.
He called upon other people in the society not to shy but try to quench their thirst for education.
Makueni county ACE director Prisca Nduku said that there was good enrollment of asults in the county. The number stands at 3961 currently.
She encouraged more to join the classes.
