A student’s dream of becoming a pilot has been shattered after a school closed down with KSh 3.7 million he had been given by President Uhuru Kenyatta to cater for his
Gilbert Kipkorir sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) at Longisa Boys High School in Bomet county in 2013 and scored a B plain.
All Gilbert wanted in his life was to become a pilot, but born and raised in a poor family in Kericho county, the son of a peasant farmer could not afford to raise school fees to join an aviation college, as reported by the Standard.
Determined to achieve his dream, he moved to Nairobi and started doing menial jobs to raise money to join aviation school.
“I worked as a tout, a cook and even sold deworming tablets to make some money. I had to work hard to make my dream come true,” he was quoted.
So passionate was he that every Sunday, he would walk to Wilson Airport to just watch the planes taking off and landing.
After months of hustling, he finally walked into an aviation college at Wilson Airport and got an admission letter and went back to the village with it.
His mother could not believe the fee structure to the extent she got confused and asked if that was the ‘number plate’ of the plane his son was going to fly.
“When I showed my mother the letter, she asked me if the KSh 4.5 million written on it was the number of the aircraft I was going to fly,” he said.
Poor villagers pooled together their financial resources and managed to raise KSh 88,000 after several months of lobbying for funds.
He was admitted at the Skylink Aviation School which allowed him to study after paying KSh 70,000 in 2014.
“I touched an aircraft for the first time in 2015 and the feeling was great,” he said.
He returned home to look for more money and raised another KSh 200,000 that helped him fly for 10 hours before another KSh 66,000 was raised by villagers and friends at Bomet Stadium.
When Deputy President William Ruto visited Bomet for 2017 election campaigns, he was informed of the young man’s predicament and paid an additional KSh 144,000.
Gilbert’s big break came through in 2017 when the president visited the county and his case was once again raised by Women Representative Joyce Korir.
“I was called to the dais and the President told me to give my details to his private secretary, Jomo Gechaga, he paid KSh 3.7 million to cater for my entire college fees. Hamud Suleiman (Skylink CEO) confirmed that the fees had been cleared,” he said.
With the school fees burden having been cleared, the student’s big task was only to study to achieve his dreams.
In mid-2018, the students were taken to Malindi for practicals in what they thought was an experience to polish their skills and knowledge.
Two months later, they were informed the institution had closed down.
Along with other 12 students, Gilbert was allowed to join another college, Alpha School of Aviation, which insisted the KSh 3.7 million had been retained by the former institution and he could not be allowed to sit for exams.
However, Skylink’s CEO blamed the student over his woes saying Gilbert had not applied for a refund of the money despite having directed him to do so.
“Yes the school closed, and I am aware of students who had paid their fees including the one sponsored by the president,” said Suleiman.
He said despite the school closing it’s doors, other students had completed their studies at Alpha after they paid 10% of the required fee.
“Gilbert had not finished his theory exams, I even asked him along with other students and parents to write letters for the money to be refunded,” he said.