KCSE candidate dies hours before sitting exams in Bomet

By  Vitalis Kimutai

Correspondent

Nation Media Group

Grief has struck a family and a school in Bomet County after a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate died on Wednesday night.

Gideon Kiprop Ngeno, an 18-year-old student at Ngererit Senior School in Konoin Constituency, was found unresponsive in his bed by family members at around 5.50am.

Konoin sub-County Police Commander Godana Mohamed confirmed the incident and said the body had been moved to Kapkatet sub-County Hospital in neighbouring Kericho County for preservation as it awaited a postmortem examination and subsequent release to the immediate family for burial.

Mr Charles Langat, the father of the deceased, said his son was found unresponsive in the morning and rushed to the nearby Mogogosiek Dispensary, where he was pronounced dead.

The father is said to have gone to wake him up after the family realised he had overslept, yet he was expected to have prepared to go to school to sit for his KCSE exams alongside other candidates.

“It has been confirmed that the victim had a medical history, as he was epileptic. Investigators from Konoin Police Station have visited the scene. It was established that the victim did not have any injuries on his body,” Mr Mohamed stated.

Mr Mohamed said education officials and school administrators had been notified of the incident because the student was a KCSE candidate.

Mr Desmond Langat, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bomet branch secretary, said it was unfortunate that the student had died before completing his KCSE exams.

“We share the grief with the family of the deceased student, the school and the community. We pray to God to give the family the fortitude to bear the grief,” Mr Langat said in a statement.

Three students are sitting their KCSE exams in a hospital in Bomet County, with two of the candidates having given birth while another is unwell.

“One candidate gave birth at Dr Laboso Mother and Child Hospital, while the other, from Migori County, has been admitted to the AGC Tenwek Hospital maternity wing for the last one week,” Mr Leonard Ngugi, the Bomet County Director of Education, said.

Mr Ngugi said the county had 27,827 candidates sitting their exams in public and private schools across five sub-counties: Bomet East, Bomet Central, Sotik, Chepalungu and Konoin.

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