Lack of school fees puts girl’s journalism dream in jeopardy

Sylvia Sidi, her grandmother Agnes Jola and cousin Agnes Kahonzi at their Frere Town home on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO

Sylvia Sidi's dream of becoming a journalist like her idol, Lulu Hassan, hangs in the balance as she sweats over the school fees required to join Moi Forces Girls Academy in Mtongwe.

Her grandmother Agnes Jola is unable to pay her requisite fees and other admission requirements, which amount to around Sh60,000.

Sidi lost her mother when she was only around five years old. Her father had abandoned them by then.

“I have struggled with her and her cousin. But now I am overwhelmed. They have performed well and they deserve a chance to continue with their education,” Jola said on Tuesday at her Frere Town home.

Born on January 19, 2010, Sidi said she is thankful to her grandparents for raising her.

“My mum died in 2015. I was so young I didn’t know what is happening. I was still in KG 3,” Sidi narrated to the Star.

She went to Unity Frere Town school, a local private school, just a walking distance from her home. Here, She scored 50 points of a possible 72.

“I studied with difficulty,” Sidi said.

“I missed almost half the classes in school during my entire journey in primary school because of lack of fees.”

“My grandmother was always hurting whenever she saw me at home. She would do everything, knock on every door to find money so I could go back to school.”

“If it wasn’t for her, I would be illiterate right now,” she said.

Sidi chose the Social Sciences pathway to pursue journalism.

“At first, I wanted to be a surgeon. But I realised it was too high an ambition for me,” she said.

Her grandmother, Jola, said she no longer has the strength to knock on every door now.

“That is why I am appealing to any well-wisher to help this child. She is a bright girl. Circumstances have made her get the 50 points,” she said.

“She would have scored more points. She is a very sensitive and emotional girl. She is a hard worker too.”

Sidi said she will repay any kindness with even more hard work at school as she awaits her fate with bated breath.

“I do not like seeing my friends go to school while I am here at home. It breaks my heart,” she said.

Sidi is so attached to her grandmother that she feels she overburdens her with her school needs.

“I just want to be able to go to school and become a journalist so I could help her like I see Lulu Hassan helping people. I want to repay my grandmother for everything she has done for me. I love her so much,” the almost 16-year-old said.

“I want her to eat and enjoy the fruit of my hard work eventually. I ask for help from anyone who can chip in and take me to senior school.”