After Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi flagged off 70 teachers to go work in the United States on Tuesday, July 30, netizens were quick to react, debating on brain drain in the education sector, forcing qualified teachers to seek better opportunities abroad.
Brain drain is the phenomenon where highly educated and skilled individuals leave their home country to work or study abroad. This can result from a variety of factors, such as better career opportunities, higher salaries, improved living conditions, or more advanced research facilities in the destination countries.
In Kenya’s case, top students who excel in their secondary education often leave for Western countries for higher education and their subsequent careers, leaving fellow countrymen in need of their talents and brains at a disadvantage.
Here is a list of where top KCSE candidates ended up in their careers:
1989
In the first ever KCSE examinations, Naaem Samnakay from Alliance High School emerged top in the country. He had emerged top in the first ever KCPE examinations four years earlier , becoming the first to ever to top in both national examinations. He proceeded to the University of Western Australia to study medicine. He is now a successful pediatric surgeon in Australia.
1990
David Were was a student at the Starehe Boys Centre who emergef top in the KCSE examinations that year. He is now an engineer in America.
1991
Humphrey Wattanga was the top student in the year’s secondary examinations. An alumni from Alliance High School, he went to Harvard University and is now in a leading insurance company in South Africa. Wattanga is also the current Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA).
1992
David Tengetta was from Mangu High School and topped the list in the 1992 examinations. He is now an engineer in America.
1993
Kaniaru Wacieru from Alliance High School went to Harvard and is now working in Wall Street.
1994
Kirimania Muriithi was Kenya’s top student from Alliance High School that year. He went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is now a computer engineer in America.
1995
James Mwangi from Alliance High School went to Harvard. He is now a management consultant in South Africa.
1997
Mwashuma Nyatta went to Alliance High School which led him to Harvard University. He now works for Soft Bank as Latin America as head of startups. He is the co-founder of a startup called Bicycle Capital.
1998
Timothy Thairu from the Alliance High School was the top student that year. He proceeded to Harvard and is now a computer engineer in America.
1999
Samuel Gikandi was Kenya’s top KCSE student from the Alliance High School. He went to MIT, graduated and worked for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, before confounding Africa’s talking. He is also a board member of Stanbic Bank.
2000
Dhar Tishampati was the best student that year in the KCSE examinations and he was from Mangu High School. He went to Adelaide university in Australia and is now a defense systems engineer in Australia.
2001
Michael Githingiri was the top KCSE student and he enrolled at the University of Nairobi to study medicine. He is now a doctor.
2002
Paul Bundi Karau was from a little school in Meru called the Kenyakine Secondary School where he emerged the top KCSE candidate in 2002.
He is a doctor in Meru level 5 Hospital, a professor at KeMU University and owner of Oregon Medical Services. He recently graduated with his PhD.
2003
Marita Kelvin is an alumni of the Starehe Boys Centre and he made history as the student with the highest marks ever in the KCPE examinations , achieving 482 out of 500 marks four years earlier.
He is now a medical doctor at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
2005
James Kandie Rotich was the country’s best KCSE student that year from Kabarak High School. He enrolled in Massacheusets Institute of Technology (MIT) and is now an engineer at Google.
2006
Dickens Omanga of Friends School Kamusinga, was the top student in the country. He pursued Medicine at the University of Nairobi. He is now an orthopedic surgeon and a successful YouTube content creator.
2007
Morris Waiganjo from the Starehe Boys center was the best student that year. He is a senior lecturer at Namibia University.
2008
Alliance High School produced the best KCSE candidate Mark Maugo that year. He did medicine at the University of Nairobi and now works in the NHS in the UK.
2009
Gathitu David was the best KCSE candidate from Mangu High School and he is currently an Electrical Engineer.
2010
Albert Kamau was the best KCSE performer that year and he was from Kabarak High School. He pursued a Physics Major from Stanford University and is currently pursuing a PHD from the California Institute of Technology.
2011
Job Nalianya was Kenya’s best student in that year’s KCSE examinations. He was then admitted to the Stanford University where he pursed electrical engineering. He now works as an integrated circuits designer in Texas.
2012
Tony Edgar Odongo was a bright student from Maseno Hugh School. His excellent grades led him to pursue Electrical engineering at Yale university. Right after graduating in 2021, Edgar lost his life in Homabay County.
2013
Tom Wanderi studied at Alliance High School and then proceeded to Princeton University to study Petrolum Engineering.
Many of Kenya’s best brains are seeking better opportunities abroad due to the high unemployment rate and the more attractive career prospects with higher pay.
