Shikunga school on mission to revive lost glory

Name Of the School: Shikunga Secondary School School Nickname: Shiks Ice Cool School Established in 1976 School Population: 450 KSCE Target: 8. 6 School Principal: Mr. Kefa Atsobwa Principal Nickname: Limoto School Cooling station: Bend over, its in-front of Block three Best Subjects: Georgraphy, Physics, Agriculture and History. Best games: Football and Volleyball. Best Teacher: Brian Ingoi who teaches History and Kiswahili. Best Teacher Nickname: Lolly bob Best Meals: Rice and Beans- Fed on Wednesday, Saturday and Monday. School Latest dance; Baganda dance Sister School: Musoli Girls Well dressed Teacher: Naomy Khayumbi Most Disciplined teacher: Mr. Felix Ihaji School bus nickname: Chopper Compiled By Benjamin Sakwa

Nairobi; Kenya: In the early 1990s when Shikunga Secondary School in Kakamega was started, academic giants bowed before it. Kakamega High, Musingu and Kamusinga would bring their students to exchange notes with the bright ones of Shikunga.

Today, a school symposium in the region will hardly feature Shikunga. Its performance has been dwindling and became worse in the last two years. While 34 of its students went to public universities and it had a mean score of 7.8 in 2012, the school went down last year to a mean score of 7.34.

The school’s head teacher Kefa Atsobwa has an explanation for this state of affairs: The boy-girl relationships in the mixed school, fee defaulting and teacher under-staffing.

“The students spend too much time in building boy-girl relationships rather than studying. Also, when fees is not paid on time, the students are sent home and this means a lot of study time is lost. All teachers apart from the principal and his deputy commute from home and during the rainy season they arrive in school late due to poor roads,” Atsobwa says.

The school has 16 teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission while 15 are employed by the school board.

“We are trying to curb the issue of teacher under-staffing by employing teachers on contract. We have 15 teachers who have been hired by the Board of Governors but it poses a challenge when it comes to paying them their dues,” says Atsobwa.

“We also have other challenges. Our computer laboratory is squeezed and expansion is needed. Also, the book ratio is still limited (1:3) more so for the compulsory subjects. This makes it difficult when students are tackling assignments or want to do their own revision,” says the principal.

Despite these challenges, the school is determined to reclaim its past glory as a centre of excellence in Kakamega County.

“We are trying to address these challenges by advising parents to pay fees on time. We are effecting school rules that criminalise the unhealthy relationships between students and dealing with it severely. With this controlled, I am sure the students will excel,” says Atsobwa.

Their mission is to offer modern and integrated quality learning to help nurture and mould learners who are emotionally, morally and intellectually competent.

The school has a population of 528 students, of whom 109 are sitting this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams. The school’s target in this exam is 8.5 score.

“Syllabus coverage was done on time and our strength is usually in sciences, geography and mathematics. With early preparation we are confident of getting the best results.”

He says missing of lessons is not encouraged and remedial lessons are compulsory for both students and teachers.

There is hope for the school to shine; and according to the Deputy Principal Geoffrey Mumba, that will be realised sooner than later.

Says he: “The school motto, ‘...with humility we shine’, has motivated us to become a renowned learning institution of integrity and academic glory. They are disciplined because school rules are strictly adhered to. Any student found outside the school compound without permission will be assumed to have sneaked through the fence and will be required to bring a roll of fencing wire. Also smoking and drinking is forbidden and anyone violating this rule is suspended and even recommended for expulsion.”