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For over 11 years, Simon Njenga has been a decorated teacher at Kariguini Primary School in Kandara constituency, Murang’a County.
Despite being visually impaired, Njenga executes his duties just like the other teachers with minimal assistance. His vast teaching experience has enabled him to build a strong bond with students, colleagues, parents, and the community.
Njenga is a Kiswahili and Christian Religious Education (CRE) teacher handling several classes and doubles up as a class teacher in one of the Class six streams.
He, however, says at the begging it wasn’t so easy for him, as his parents and the pupils were reluctant to accept him, but would later embrace him.
“I don’t feel different from other teachers, because I go to class and teach regular students just like they do,” he says. The teacher says the good performance by his students motivates him as they do better compared to those of normal teachers.
He says teaching is a calling and passion for him adding that being posted in a regular school boosted his esteem as he feels equal to other people, despite his condition.
“I became visually impaired at a tender age, but this did not deter me from pursuing my teaching dream,” he says. Njenga claims he has been able to master the syllabus and he is able to guide the students through the lesson. He also knows the students by their names and their sitting positions and this makes his work easier.
To aid his work such as marking assignments and exams, teacher Njenga conducted Esther Nyamura to helm him in such tasks.
“We also do the lesson plans, scheming and marking the class register together,” says Njenga.
His work has, however, not been without a challenge pointing out that he needs braille materials, but he cannot afford them because they are very expensive.
