When he scored 209 marks from Telanet Primary School in 2014, Gideon Cheruiyot's father was disheartened at the poor performance.
The young man rejected his father's attempts to have him repeat the class, hoping for a better performance in the next Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) the following year.
Instead, he went ahead to earn a slot at the Kapsoit Day Secondary School in Kericho County under a strong belief that the result could not determine his future.
"When I got into secondary, I saw my past and said I will change my future and for anyone who hasn’t achieved yet, there is still time,” Cheruiyot told the Citizen Digital.
Despite his resilience, challenges would follow him in this part of education too, the main hurdle being sponsoring his education since his family did not have the full ability.
Determined and thirsty for the white man's wisdom, Cheruiyot thought outside the box and at times made and sold lemonade from family lemons to retain himself in school.
Probably because of the determination they saw in him, villagers and his teachers also lent a hand in keeping him in school, his mother narrates.
"I used to run around the village begging people to help me pay his school fees and they helped. The teachers at Kapsoit also ensured he remained in class even when he was supposed to be sent home for school fees, now they have reaped” the mother said.
When the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results were announced on Friday, Cheruiyot was not only a top performer having scored a B, but also set a record as one of the most improved candidates.
To make it, even more, better, he was acknowledged by none other than Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed while announcing the results.
“You have Cheruiyot Gideon who had 209 at KCPE and has a mean of B in KCSE which basically means they are all going to University. This clearly means candidates who perform poorly in KCPE can perform excellently in KCSE,” said the CS.
Cheruiyot now wants to pursue engineering.