Garba Tula gets Sh38m boost for restoration

Isiolo; Kenya: After years of neglect, Garba Tula High School in Isiolo County could be on the path to regaining its past glory after it received a Sh38 million boost for refurbishment.

The national government, through the Ministry of Education, has given the school Sh25 million, while Deputy President William Ruto helped raise a further Sh13 million to undertake repairs of the school’s physical facilities.

During the funds drive on Saturday, Mr Ruto announced that the Government will release the Sh25 million to the institution by end of this week.

‘’The Government set aside Sh25 million this financial year for this purpose, which will be released to the school this week. But it has to enrol more students to make use of the refurbished facilities,’’ said Ruto.

The school was closed in 2001 and stripped of its national status after it lost most of its students following sporadic bandit attacks in the area, and reopened the following year as a district school.

LEAGUE OF GIANTS

It was started through joint efforts between the Government, the former West Germany through the National Christian Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and the Protestant Agency for Development Aid in 1974.

For two decades, Garba-Tula was in the league of giants like Alliance, Mang’u and Starehe Boys, among others, owing to its academic excellence.

It had some of the best physical facilities, including 25 classrooms that could accommodate more than 800 students and special rooms for Art, a Photography darkroom, Home Science and several laboratories.

It also had an open-air basketball court, a gymnasium, a green house, zero-grazing sheds, water reservoir, state-of-the-art Wood and Metal workshops, windmill and charcoal coolers, among others.

Today, most of the beautiful structures are no longer in use, while others are homes to snakes and bats, while most equipment and furniture were looted.

The funds drive was initiated by the alumni of the school, who raised Sh13 million, including Sh6 million from the Isiolo South Constituency Development Fund.

Equating Garba Tula to St Patrick’s Iten, Ruto noted that the school was competing with other national schools on equal footing, but was now a pale shadow of its former self.

On behalf of the alumni, Adan Kabelo, the Country Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (Gain) said the former students initiated the move in collaboration with county leaders in a bid to revive the school.

‘’We are what we are today because of Garba Tula. We want to work with all stakeholders to revive this school,’’ he said.

The officials said the money raised will be used to repair water intake and sewerage systems, erect a perimeter fence, equip the library and laboratories and undertaking of minor repairs of the physical facilities.

The school’s alumni also intend to set up a bursary kitty to assist bright students from poor families and give back through regular medical check-up programmes. The school has been restored to its former national status.