54-year-old David Gitari is among13, 467 candidates set to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in Kirinyaga county.
Gitari, who hails from Kianjiru village in the Gichugu constituency, dropped out of school in 1986 only to make a drastic change of mind and decided to get back to school to continue with his education.
Since 2019, Gitari has been riding on his motorcycle every day to and from his Kianjiru village home to Nyaga Secondary school in Mwea West sub-county where he enrolled and has been studying for the past four years.
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"I dropped out of school in 1986 and returned in 2019. It's unbelievable that I have now completed four years going to school on a daily basis until now I'm about to sit for KCSE exams later this week," he said.
Pharmacist
The father of two has the ambition to become a pharmacist.
"I am ready for the exams which will begin on Friday," he told K24 Digital during an interview at his home situated a few kilometres from the Kianjiru shopping centre.
Gitari, who has been surviving on menial jobs, says that he realized education is the backbone to one's prosperity.
"I realized that life is very difficult when one is not educated. I have a vision of completing my education and maybe achieving a Degree or Diploma in the field of pharmacy," he said
He adds that he has been on good terms with his classmates and they always seek advice on various issues from education to life.
"Other students respect me and they are very happy when I advise them on various issues. It's been a very good stay at the school," he said
School principal
Nyaga Secondary School principal Alfred Munene Karanja terms Gitari a bright person and the school is very optimistic that he will succeed in his quest to pursue his dreams.
"He has been able to do well and is interested in Chemistry and issues to do with medicine and we are confident that he will perform well in his KCSE," Karanja said.
The Principal also revealed that Gitari was his primary school classmate.
The two studied at Gituba Primary School in Gichugu Constituency.
"By the way, he was my classmate at a school called Gituba. I first kept it secret after I discovered it," he said adding that he revealed it to Gitari when he got to form four and later made it public.
When asked about it, Gitari said he did not remember the principal being his former classmate but recalled when the school head revealed the matter to him.
Family
He has however said that the four-year journey as a secondary school student has not been a walk in the park as he had to juggle between learning and parenthood.
"I have to be at school at six in the morning and leave for home at six in the evening. It's not easy being a family man because I also have a responsibility to take care of my family," he says
But besides that, he commends his family for being supportive in his journey to achieve his dream.
His wife Jane Kanini says that it was a bit difficult when her husband said that he wanted to go back to school.
"I was shocked. I never saw it coming then when it did I began wondering how he would manage to feed for us and also attend school," she said.
She further notes that there was a time when she was incited by some neighbours to leave her marriage and go back to her parent's home.
"They tried to advise me to leave him but I decided to stick around although a prayed to God that He strengthen me so that we can make it through. And now I am happy we have made it this far. I am also wishing him all the best in the upcoming exams," she said.
