Eshibanze Secondary: Village school with first straight A ever

Parents and teachers of Eshibanze Secondary Day School in Matungu Constituency, Kakamega celebrate their top two students Nyangweso Einstein Baraka (A plain 83 points) and Anwar Musa who scored an A(minus). [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Little-known Eshibanze Secondary Day School in Matungu had a rare feat in this year’s results by scoring its first straight A.

The straight A (83 points) came from Nyangweso Einstein Baraka.

“I was shocked with the results when they were relayed to me by my mother but has since digested them. I want to be a neurosurgeon as that has been my childhood and even adulthood desire,” he told The Standard.

The 19-year-old began his education at Mang’u High from 2020 to 2021 but shifted to the village school established in 2012, which he said gave him a conducive environment to pursue his academic dream.

“Above everything, I gave the school its first A, which had been its desire since it was established, and now I believe there will be others who will deliver straight As,” he said.

His mother, Maximilla Mwembula, said she felt like jumping out of her skin when she got the results that put the school on the national radar.

But this was not the first from the rural school sitting on a three-acre piece of land in Kholera Ward.

In 2020, it produced the best girl in the Matungu constituency with an A- of 75 points, and in 2021, it also had the only A- recorded in the Matungu by Bilal Juma Keya with 74 points. Both are pursuing clinical medicine at different public universities.

The best girl in Matungu in 2021, Dereen Ayuma, with a B+ came from the same school dubbed “Little Alliance” by villagers. Ms Ayuma is pursuing Engineering at the University of Nairobi.

In 2019, they had 29 students for KCSE, in 2020 (75), 2022(66,) and 2023 (66).

School Principal Emelda Otieno said she was hands-on and that had made the school of 400 students perform well.

“By 5.30am I am in school to meet my committed teachers who are student-friendly and give their all to ensure the learners get all the necessary training,” she said.

Enough time

She added that they finish the syllabus early and spend enough time to revise. This has helped them build their mean score from the low of 4 when it first sat KCSE to the current one of 5.2.

She equally gave credit to the school board, which she cited for great pep talks that have brought out the best in fairly average candidates.

She said that they were understaffed, and that affected the normal flow of activities in school, with only eight teachers under TSC and 19 under BoM.