Top two 2018 KCSE girls are childhood friends from Migori county

Childhood friends from Migori top 2018 KCSE examination

The country’s top two girls in the just released Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam results are childhood friends from Rongo, Migori County. Irene Juliet Otieno topped the country from Pangani Girls with 87.64 points and Mel Christine who ranked sixth from Alliance Girls with just a 0.37 points difference.

The two attended the same primary school before parting ways in Class Five where Mel moved to Homa Bay View Academy and Irene remained at Rongo Success Academy. Their academic rivalry boiled on and in 2014, Mel beat Irene to rank sixth nationally in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) with 438 marks while the other scored 421 to be the best in Migori.

Mel Christine of Alliance Girls High School

What’s more, their parents are family friends with their fathers being High School principals and great buddies to add on that.Irene’s father is the head of Winyo Secondary School while Mel’s father is the principal at Tom Mboya Secondary in Rusinga.

Their stellar performances excited Rongo town bringing it to a standstill as parents, friends and former schoolmates sang and danced in elaborate joy to their success. For the two girls whose homes are barely a kilometre apart, it was a dream come true. It also lay to rest their academic rivalry.

“We are setting out to pursue different dreams. Mel wants to become a cardiologist, I, an aeronautical engineer. It has been a healthy competition and it really fueled us,” said Irene after the ornate celebrations on December 21. Both attributed the success to consistency, hard work, and discipline, strong moral support from home and good guidance from their teachers.

“This has to be God’s doing. I put in all the hard work and God delivered me,” said Irene, a sentiment shared by her rival Mel.

 

 

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