School where best KCSE grade was C- and 37 students had E

Mwamzandi Secondary School. The school’s overall 2014 KCSE performance was wanting and teachers say this is due to myriad challenges they face. [PHOTO: OMONDI ONYANGO/STANDARD]

KWALE: There was no song and dance, jubilation or ululations at Mwamzandi Secondary School in Msambweni when the 2014 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results were announced.

For the second year in a row, the school in Ngaja village had performed dismally with this year’s results being particularly depressing compared to the last year’s.

The school, whose motto is Strive for Success, had entered 102 candidates for the national exams and their grades were 2 C-, 1 D+, 62 D- and 37 E.

They had a mean score of 1.73 down from 1.9 in 2013 when the school entered 58 candidates.

DON’T CARE

Reports show that most of those who scored grade E barely wrote a thing on the answer sheets amidst revelations that most students failed the Swahili paper although the language is widely spoken here.

The Standard has also established that only a handful of students have expressed interest to resit the exam with most not even scandalised by their atrocious performance and have given up on studies, got married or dissolved into the social tourism culture.

The school does not have adequate trained teachers in biology, chemistry, physics, history and French and the few left have become greatly demoralised due to a myriad of challenges.

The school only has eight teachers and although it registers students for science subjects in KCSE, it does not have a single laboratory.

“We have had to contend with this situation since the school started operations in 2010,” Deputy Headmaster Ndegwa Wahome told The Standard when we visited the school on Tuesday.

There is a building under construction, courtesy of CDF, and it is expected to house the new school laboratory.

“Any developments you see are courtesy of sponsors like Base Titanium who sponsored construction of an administration block and a dormitory for girls,” Wahome said.

The teacher in charge of academics, Bernard Mwalali, attributes the school’s poor performance to truancy as students “cook up” excuses to stay away from school.

“There are always excuses, most of which are flimsy, and in the long run have a direct bearing on how a student performs,” he said.

Giving an example, the teacher tells us some students stayed out of class due to pregnancy and only returned to school to sit their final exam.

Mr Mwalali blamed these unwanted pregnancies on students exposure to social events outside the school like taarab music events and wedding parties, which are popular here.

“We appeal to our county leaders to ban school going youths from attending these social events during the school term because they are to blame for the low school attendance and unwanted pregnancies,” he said.

Another teacher, Murua Daniel, faulted parents saying they show very little interest in their children’s education.

ERRANT STUDENT

“We have had instances where a teacher punishes an errant student only to be attacked by the parent,” he said, adding that without this vital support, there isn’t much teachers can achieve.

School Board Vice Chair Machafu Swaleh Machafu faulted the Government for failing to allocate adequate resources to the institution since its inception.

“How are we expected to perform while running on a shoe-string budget? Majority of these students come from poor backgrounds with parents who are unable to meet their school fees obligations,” he said.

The vice chair said there is currently a total of Sh3 million in school fees arrears, which has had a direct impact on paying salaries for teachers hired by the board.

“Our teachers could be demoralised due to this issue of unpaid salaries and we need additional resources to help us meet these obligations because we cannot rely on our parents,” he said.

It is, however, not all doom and gloom at the school as was exhibited by our interaction with 20-year-old Omar Choyo, who sat his KCSE at the school.

Despite being discouraged by his D- grade, a resilient Choyo said he is still determined to pursue his dream and realise his goal of attaining a degree in mechanical engineering

“Come rain or sunshine, I am focused on my end goal and will scale the academic ladder even if it means that I must take a much longer route,” he said.