There are Kenyan schools whose names can be an embarrassment on your CV, yet names, in African settings, are believed to have influence in one’s life.
The Nairobian sampled some interesting schools names. Here goes:
1. Magui Secondary School
This mixed day school in Vihiga County may not sound absurd to locals, but when the school came to Nairobi during the national music festivals, students from Central Kenya were aghast. Magui means a group of mongrels!
2. Kiangoma
Kiangoma Boys Secondary School in Nyeri County stuck with its creepy name, which means ‘belonging to madness’ in Kikuyu, for 43 years until it changed to Mukurwe-ini Boys in 2007. It also changed the school uniform to tame spiralling indiscipline that had dogged the school. However, Kiangoma Primary has stayed put with the name.
3. Nyakemincha Primary School
Nyakemincha in Kisii means ‘tail,’ and it is no surprise that Nyakemincha Primary in Bonyamatuta Village, Nyamira County, pulls the tail as it did in the 2012 KCPE examinations. However, St Peter’s Nyakemincha Secondary School was one of the top-three schools in Nyamira!
4. Ukia Girls
The name of this girls’ school in Makueni County translates to ‘erect’ when translated by the boy-child in Central Kenya.
5. Dry’s Girls Secondary School
This is a girls’ boarding school in Kapsengwet, Uasin Gishu County in Rift Valley. But when they say they are ‘dry,’ it triggers laughter even when it’s not a request to turn them on.
6. Pand Pieri
Pand pieri means ‘hide your buttocks’ in Luo, but it’s also the name of a primary and secondary school in Kisumu. Word has it that it was originally Pand Pier, but locals added the ‘i’ and ended up with the weird meaning.
7. Ikanga Girls
Ikanga to people who hail from the Mt Kenya region is a matatu tout, but in Kitui County, where this boarding school is, the name may not stir much debate.
8. Eshisiru Secondary School
Eshisiru among the Luhya means ‘stupid,’ yet this mixed day secondary school is in Kakamega County.
9. Ng’onyi Boys
The name of this day school in Meru County may imply, ‘your (female) genitals’ in Luo land.
10. Male Girls
This girls’ secondary school in Naromoru reads weird, genderwise that is. Here you can also include Morning Glory Kindergarten and Tiny Tits School!
