Kenyan man spends 22 years in primary school, finally graduates

A Kenyan man who spent over 20 years in Primary School is over the moon after finally graduating from university with a degree.

Speaking to a local publication, Mathew Aol Nyamlori, 38, disclosed that he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy and Administration from Kenyatta University on Friday, July 23.

He joined the university after scoring B+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), having attended three high schools and nine primary schools.

“I can say I’m the happiest person on earth today because my dream has come true. I started pursuing this thing in the late 80s eventually I have graduated from Kenyatta University. This has been my dream, this has been my prayer and this is what made me repeat class 8 nine times, joint Kanga, Maseno and eventually Nairobi School,” Aol said.

Aol spent 22 years in primary school because his parents had no money to see him through high school.

In 2004, he scored 434 marks in his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and secured admission at Maseno School but he did not join due to lack of school fees.

However, the school allowed him to join Form One but later dropped out while in Form Two as he had not paid fees since joining the school.

Aol went back to Primary School until 2007 when he decided to travel to Nairobi to do menial jobs before returning home to sit for KCPE exams for the sixth time.

He scored 395 marks and he got admission at Maranda School but he did not join due to lack of fees.

In 2009, he joined Aldorebby Junior Academy and sat for his seventh KCPE attempt where he scored 406 marks and got an admission at Kapsabet Boys but he did not join.

The following year, he went to Agape Academy in Kosele for the eighth KCPE attempt and received an admission letter from Maranda High School for the second time but he still did not join due to lack of fees.

Aol’s breakthrough came in 2011 when he sat for his ninth KCPE exam at Oriri Primary School and got admitted to Nairobi School through Equity’s Wings To Fly program.