Teacher takes on 45-hour non-stop maths teaching challenge

Fenwick Malobah says he wants to motivate learners and people around the world that Mathematics is not a difficult subject. [File, Standard]

Over a decade ago, Fenwick Malobah sat a Mathematics mock examination and saw himself score a devastating E. Today, he stands at the front of a classroom at Menengai Secondary School, determined to prove that the subject is not the monster many students fear.

At 8:00 am Friday, Malobah will officially begin a 45-hour non-stop teaching marathon at Menengai Secondary School, aiming to shatter a Guinness World Record and rewrite the narrative for struggling learners in Kenya and beyond.

“I am doing this to motivate learners and people around the world that Mathematics is not a monster as deemed by many students. The phobia is in the mind, and that is what I want to show,” Malobah said. The longest Mathematics lesson currently stands at 31 hours, 42 minutes and 54 seconds, a record set in April 2025.

Malobah said his relationship with Mathematics, like that of many learners, was not rosy at first. He began cultivating an interest in the subject just months before sitting the KCSE national examinations.

“I had scored an E in the mock exams, and it was glaring because I was performing very well in the other subjects. Knowing that the subject could bar me from attaining the university entry mark, I started working towards reversing the trend,” Malobah said.

While Mathematics, like many other STEM subjects, remains a challenge for most learners, Malobah said attitude plays a key role.

“In one month, before sitting my national examinations at Khasoko Boys in Bungoma County, I had managed to work on 6,000 Mathematics questions. I made it a goal to make it look easy, and every day I would work specifically to raise the grade. By the time the results were out, I had scored a straight A.”

Now, Malobah is sending a message to the world as he works through the 45-hour challenge. He said the attempt is meant to demonstrate passion and resilience. It involves teaching Mathematics within the Kenyan-approved curriculum, covering topics taught from Form One through Form Four.

In addition to teaching, he will also be marking questions, with learners attending the lessons in rotational groups throughout the period.

When The Standard visited the school yesterday, preparations for the event were in top gear. Learners, too, expressed excitement at being part of a record attempt aimed at showing the world that Mathematics is not a monster.

For Guinness World Records to accept such an entry, strict pre-approval and proof requirements must be met. Applicants must first confirm that the record exists and formally declare an attempt to break it.

The attempt must be officially recognised, with at least two independent witnesses who are not related to the participant or involved in organising the event.