Prisoners sitting for national exams. An inmate at Kisumu's Kodiaga prison defied odds to score a 'B' plain of 66 points in the 2017 KCSE. [Photo|standardmedia.co.ke]
An inmate at Kodiaga prison in Kisumu is among the students in this year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) who attained the minimum university admission grade.
31 year-old Benard Reuta defied odds to score a 'B' plain of 66 points in the examinations whose results were released on Wednesday by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i.
Reuta, who sat his papers at the correctional facility, qualified to join university despite studying with inadequate learning resources.
"It was not easy but I worked hard every single day," he told Saturday Standard.
"I have been using books to help myself escape prison's harsh realities," he added.
Reuta was sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter in 2011 but had his term reduced to 40 years after he appealed.
Only about 70,000 candidates in this year's national exams managed to score grade C+ and above, the minimum university admission grade.