BY TONY WAFULA
Juliet Wanyonyi, a form two student and a mother of three at Bungoma Adults Secondary Education Center says that she decided to go back to school after ten years.
In an exclusive interview with Education News recently, she revealed that the reason as to why she dropped out of school is because she got pregnant.
Wanyonyi noted that she joined Bungoma Adults Secondary Education Center in Bungoma town so that she can fulfill her dream of becoming a high school teacher.
“When I got pregnant while at school I said let it not be the end of my learning, my parents have been encouraging me, I have come to ensure that I fulfill my dream,” she noted.
She keen on scoring a mean grade of C+ (plus) that will enable her to join Kibabii University.
“I don’t want to join a far university as I still stay with my kids,” she said.
However, Wanyonyi said that she gets support from her husband who helps her in paying fares to and from the school on a daily basis.
“My husband is dedicated to supporting me because he always says that one day he wants me to get employed,” she said, adding that while at school she likes languages and Christian Religious Education (CRE).
She applauded her teachers for supporting her to catch up with the syllabus despite staying at home for over ten years.
“I want to thank my teachers for supporting me to catch up with the syllabus. I had stayed at home for a very long time and I had forgotten almost everything, now I can compete with others in a class,” she said.
Antony Makio, Principal at Bungoma Adults Secondary school said that the school was started way back in 2009 to give opportunities for those in one way or the other dropped out of school to proceed with their education.
He pointed out that the facility has given opportunities for many learners who have made it their lives.
“This facility has opened doors for many learners who decided to come back and proceed with learning after a long stay at home,” he said, adding that some were forced to return to school because where they were working the employer wanted the form four certificates.
In addition, he said that the school started presenting KCSE candidates in the year 2011 where it is still offering avenues for those who want to do the national exams.
“Even though we have over eighty KCSE registered students who will be doing their exams in November, we have prepared them well and are very optimistic that they will make us proud,” Makio noted.
He called on the government to help in funding the Adults secondary schools adding that the funding was stopped exposing the school to hardships of running its programs.
“It is my appeal to the new administration headed by President William Ruto that this time round they include Adult schools on the funding list, this is a school like any other school, it is only that our students are adult people,” he said.
However, he said that the teachers find it hard to control the learners as they are older people who can’t be harassed and caned instead they use a guiding and counseling approach.
“If we find out that a student has become notorious and he/she is not attending lessons as required, the board of management takes over and guides them,” he said.
He said that the learners’ report to school at 8am and leave at 5pm.
He pointed that a good number of learner’s from the facility have posted stellar results in the KCSE examinations and secured direct university entries.
“We have our students distributed in the universities in this country. We are here and we mean business, even this year we have those that will go directly to university,” he said.
Mark Wanyonyi, a former student at Bungoma Adult Secondary School and currently a driver at Bungoma County Assembly noted that he once dropped out of school but he returned to Bungoma Adult Secondary School to accomplish his dream.
“I dropped out of school as a youth, along the way I married but because life was not favorable to me as a father I decided to go back to school, I did my examination in 2019,” he said.
