So many questions run in the mind of young Bernadette Aoko Ogolla. Among them include why the Kenyan education system appears to be failing her just as she prepares to enter the job market.
Bernadette, raised by a single mother in Migori County, has long believed in the power of education to unlock opportunities for a bright and rewarding future.
In 2016, her name made waves in the country after she emerged as the 3rd best student in the national examinations. She sat her KCSE exams at Lugulu Girls High School and scored an A.
Past footage captured Bernadette celebrating special moments with her family and friends at home. She aspired to pursue medicine locally as she believed it to be a noble field with high demand.
“My inspiration is my mother. She has given me lots of support. She always said that education was the best thing she could give me and I took it to mind,” a jovial Bernadette spoke at the time.
She thanked her mother and teachers at large for pushing her to reach for the stars.
“I was so excited. I thank God because I constantly prayed for her,” said Aoko’s mother who’s a teacher at Asumbi Teacher’s College.
Fast forward, 8 years down the line, Bernadette is among the thousands of medical interns who have not been posted to service months after they graduated from medicine school.
Businessman who got same KCSE grade as security guard offers to educate him
She participated in a protest march from Upperhill to the Ministry of Health Offices, demanding justice for the delay in her posting. Was this the fate of her academic journey?
She expressed her frustration on her X account, pointing out that the delay in her posting was an injustice to the efforts and time she had spent in school.
Bernadette held a placard written ‘Daktari hata hawezi toa pesa harambee. Post medical interns.’
“How it started vs how it’s going ðŸ˜. I said I wanted to be a doctor 7 years ago, I became a doctor and now the government is failing me. #postmedicalinterns,” she wrote in a tweet.Â