Students from Dadaab in Garissa County who sat for this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations defied odds to post positive results.
The students of Gedi Mixed Secondary School emerged the best in Dadaab Sub-County despite facing several challenges.
Gedi School was among several schools in the region that faced challenges such as lack of classrooms, insecurity and lack of teachers.
Feisal Gedi, the founder and principal of the school said despite the challenges, that did not hinder students from performing well as the top three students scored B- (minus) while 11 managed to get C +.
This was the first time the school had registered students to sit for the national exams and it had 130 students registered who managed to get a mean score of C plain of 6.456 points.
Feisal attributed the good results of the students who are sponsored by the school to hard work and support from the school.
The principal said the school does not have enough teachers and also lacks enough reading materials but the candidates tried their best with the little that they had.
“They have made all of us proud. Working hard really pays. Most of them attend classes until 9 pm before they retire for the day, with some opting to sleep at the Mosque inside the school.”
“Our main challenge has been getting good teachers since few are willing to risk their lives to come to this area,” said Feisal as quoted by nation.co.ke.
The top student at the school, Abdinoor Ali Elmi, said he could have done better but he was excited about his performance.
“I am happy even though I was expecting something better. But I am thankful,” said Elmi.
The challenges facing the education sector in the region has played a role in the dismal performance of public schools in the national examination and non-local teachers had deserted several schools due to terror attacks by Al-Shabaab.