When the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results were announced in January 2023, Kevin Ontinta could not hide his joy.
He had scored a straight A in the exams. This was no mean feat. Ontinta was among 1,146 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) who scored an A plain. To get this grade, he had made the ultimate sacrifice.
He had previously joined university. However, he was not satisfied with the course he was taking. He dropped out and enrolled at Igonga Secondary School in Bonchari, Kisii County, where he sat for the exam in 2022.
Despite being the firstborn in a family of eight, and the challenges of coming from a humble and struggling family, Ontinta had sat for his first KCSE in 2016 and scored a B minus.
He later joined Kenyatta University to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree in Kiswahili and Christian Religious Education.
He could not sustain himself to complete the 8.4.4 system of education and resorted to doing odd jobs to help him at school and feed his siblings.
“Besides Mjengo I used to work as a Watchman at night at least to have some cash and send back home for my siblings, because my family is really poor,” Ontinta recalled.
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In 2018, the situation worsened, and he dropped out of campus to take care of his young family in Kisii. Still, he wondered if it would e a good idea to drop the university course he was pursuing, and return to secondary school in pursuit of his dreams.
He secured a scholarship from a priest who sponsored his education at Igonga Secondary School in Kisii county. He returned to form one to pursue his dream of scoring an A.
“I had a dream of scoring an A plain. I focused on my studies, and at this point, the priest gave my parents some small money to start a business.
“I was to concentrate on my studies. My dad sells boiled eggs at Suneka town at least to take care of my other seven siblings,” he stated.
Having attained the right grade, he now hopes to secure a scholarship to help him pursue Medicine and Surgery at the University of Nairobi.
