Bill Gates dropped out of school, he is a billionaire, Uhuru tells teachers

By Peter Ochieng President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta has urged parents and teachers to encourage children to use their talents more, so as to earn a better living, instead of pushing them to pursue white-collar jobs. Speaking during the 45th edition of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) summit in Mombasa on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, the Head of State said billionaires such as Bill Gates are rich because of their talents. He claimed the Microsoft co-founder is among the World’s richest people, but he dropped out of school. "Billionaires like Bill Gates and the rest dropped out in high school and the money they have today is more than what Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi have combined," said the President. He went ahead to state that not so fancy jobs like farming and welding pay significantly more than white-collar jobs like teaching. "Start moving away from telling our children that the only job you can have is a white-collar job. That he should be a clerk in a bank, banks are going digital. Today we have farmers making more money than teachers, doctors and professors,” he said. “Today as we progress in shipbuilding we are looking for quality welders and the few that we have are old men. These are paying jobs." He insisted that those who embrace their talent are set to become the World’s new billionaires. "This is where we need to take our children, to encourage our children. Use your gifts; that is the future. And you teachers have the responsibility to be the ones to pull that gift out of that child to be proud of himself for the service he delivers to the country."