This archive report was first published on 27 June 2021.
Edgar Omoke Getugi, an 18-year-old from Kisii, is heartbroken after being denied the opportunity to study medicine in university despite excelling in his secondary school national examinations.
Omoke, who suffers from keratoconus, an eye disorder that started developing eye problems in Standard Three, attained an A plain of 81 points in the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
He was announced as the second best student nationally in the special needs category by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha.
However, his hopes of becoming an ophthalmologist were dimmed after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) failed to admit him to study medicine.
Omoke has now asked KUCCPS to allow him to pursue his career of choice, saying, “I only want to study medicine. I would rather not join university [if that is impossible].”
He has appealed to the Education minister to intervene and have him study medicine, citing the trauma he experienced during the KCSE exams when people thought he was pretending to have an eye problem.
Omoke's family has been trying to raise Sh300,000 for each of his eyes, money needed for surgery, but he believes his condition can be rectified and would not have stopped him from being a doctor.
