Triumph in the midst of adversity in Siaya

The boys at one of their two laboratories [PHOTO: TITUS MUNALA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: A little known school in Siaya County is quickly scaling the education ladder and has managed to fell previously known giants.

Barding Boys High School located next to Bama Market Centre in South Alego, Siaya County is really charged as far as academic matters are concerned.

When the 2014 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results were released, the school had set a target of 10.2 points but was pleasantly surprised to realise a mean score of 10.39 points.

Principal Victor Makanda says this was an overwhelming improvement from their 2013 mean score of 9.5 points.

The school got 15 A plains, 83 A minuses, 43 B pluses, 23 B plains, eight B minuses and only two C pluses.

"Out of the 174 candidates in 2014, 164 secured direct university entry and 10 are eligible for parallel courses," he said.

Mr Makanda says their top most secret of success is 'stealing more time' for studies and not stealing exams.

"We steal a lot of time. Our Form Fours do not go home during holidays until they have gone through free remedial classes. We do not charge the parents for holiday tuition," he says.

This enables them to complete the syllabus in Form Three, leaving them with a whole year of revision.

The school also pays particular emphasis to identifying staff who are passionate about their work and lessons end everyday at 1:40pm with preps beginning at 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

"We have 23 Teachers Service Commission employees and 16 others employed by the Board Of Management and they are all very passionate about getting good results," he says.

Discipline is also key in the school whose student population has been growing in leaps and bounds and now stands at 1,002 students. However, it is not all rosy at the school which is plagued by various amenity challenges beginning with the pathetic 10-kilometre road leading to it, which becomes virtually impassable once it rains.

"No doubt the road is in bad condition but it is a blessing in disguise because it prevents student truancy. Anyone who tries to leave school cannot get very far due to the road and the fact that villagers bring them back," the principal said.

The villagers lack social amenities like clean water and there is only one health centre, with the other situated about seven kilometres away in Pap Oriang' village.

"Water is a challenge especially during the dry season when our wells run dry. We get the water using a van that goes all the way to Karapul, about three kilometres from Siaya town, or even worse from River Yala. We use about 1,800 litres per day. Things are  better when it rains because we get water from roof catchment and three wells," Makanda said.

School Director of Studies Elizabeth Wamukhoma said the institution also does not have a dining hall and students are usually forced to eat under a tree.

"We have two laboratories for chemistry and physics and only five of our teachers live in school due to lack of staff quarters," she says.

The school also only has five dormitories, which are overcrowded, with Ms Wamukhoma saying they had to convert double-decker beds into triple to accommodate the student numbers. Despite these challenges, both school officials remain upbeat that the school is an emerging star capable of toppling the very best.

"In 2014, we were positioned 22nd nationally, from 55 in 2013 and 313 in 2012. Do not be shocked if we overtake the top performers in 2015," says Makanda.