Uchumi boss, Julius Kipng’etich gives success advice to higher achievers

Uchumi CEO Julius Kipng’etich (Right)

Schools should provide an environment that allows free and independent thinking to stimulate creativity among students. Uchumi CEO Julius Kipng’etich says that the 21st Century calls for a different approach to education that emphasizes character development rather than solely focusing on grades.

Speaking at the Oshwal Academy Nairobi Senior High during their Annual Day celebrations held on Saturday September 10th to celebrate the success of students in academic and co-curricular activities, Kipng’etich said the world needs creative professionals in different fields whose foundation is set at primary and secondary schools.

“The role of education is to shape character, which then defines an individual,” he said. “Teachers should emphasise character and extra-curricular activities which are as important as education itself.”

He said students should be given an environment to explore their talents, skills and interests, while schools should align teaching and learning methodologies to opportunities available in the country and across Africa.

During the ceremony, students were recognized for excellent performance in AS and A’ level examinations, discipline, leadership and non-academic activities such as sports and the arts. Merit certificates went to 27 students who scored straight As and A* in all subjects in the 2015/16 academic year.

According to the 2015/16 results, Oshwal Academy Nairobi and Mombasa outperformed the school’s expectations with the top grade A* increasing by 10 percent, while A*-B and A*-C grades improved by 13 per cent compared to 2014/15.

The Board of Governors Chairman Mr Kaushik Shah said 2015/16 had record results at A levels with more than one-third  of all the grades at A-A*, while over 75 per cent  were A* –C. Eight subjects had 100 per cent pass rate and a majority of other subjects with over 90 percent.  Strongest performance was in science, math, business studies and accounting.

OShwal Academy senior school head Linda Potticary said the school is repositioning itself for the 21st century and remains ahead of competition through its new rallying call to Simplify, Reinvent and Unify.  “We are doing things in a less complicated way and making ourselves better,” she said.

Ms Potticary said the unify principle is the compass for life skills at Oshwal Academy as it combines acquired and learned knowledge, understanding, skills, character into one lifespan in terms of career path and growth from child to adulthood.

She paid glowing tribute to Aveer Kishore Shah, an alumnus of Oshwal Academy, who has lived the principles of simplify, reinvent and unify.

A swimming and cycling star, Aveer immigrated to the United States and took up employment at the New Jersey Institute of Technology before joining the US army as a chemical biological radiological and nuclear specialist. “While Aveer is the pride of his school, family and community,” she added, “he remains an inspirational to all of us.”

Ms Potticary urged the students to strive for even better performance and emulate great roles models from the school and beyond. To achieve this, students and teachers should get out of their comfort zones to truly achieve greatness. “Whilst exam results help us to achieve our educational and professional goals we must remember that there is more to life than just exam results,” Ms Potticary said.