St Mary’s Mumias Girls High School in Mumias has broken the glass ceiling by upsetting the former academic giants in the region and claiming its place among at the top in Kakamega County thanks to the soft-spoken and hardworking Senior Principal Monica Buchichi.
The school recorded impressive results in KCSE registering a mean of 7.877 (B-), where over 329 candidates scored above the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above.
Following this academic fete, hundreds of new students flocked to the school to seek admission in Form One on Monday, January 15th 2023, when the admission commenced.
Speaking to this writer, Mrs Buchichi was elated and congratulated teachers and candidates who tirelessly worked for the results and even produced 2 A (plains) which have been elusive for quite some time.
According to Mrs Buchichi, who joined the school mid-last year, a lot had to be put in place to actualise the results and promised to produce even better results in the coming years.
Asked about the secret behind the impressive performance, the Senior Principal acknowledged the dedicated staff, disciplined and focused students, very supportive parents, early syllabus coverage and above all the belief in God.
“When I joined this school last year, we had a lot of gaps in academics. I called a meeting with my teachers to streamline some things and I am glad that whatever we deliberated on has worked positively for us,” she said.
She added, “You cannot realise positive results if you don’t know where you are coming from, where you are and where you are going. We had to change our approach to several programmes and embrace new structures unlike in the past.”
Among the new changes in the school are:
- A common timetable for the whole school especially during prep time (morning and evening)
- Teachers being in class between 4.30 a.m. and also during evening preps.
- Introduced learner-centred programs.
- Content mastering and retention by the learners
- Topical quizzes, marking and revision.
- Special Programs for the top performers to keep them motivated.
- Every candidate has summary notes which the principal goes through among so many others
- Memorandum of understanding with candidates.
At St Mary’s Girls High School, there is no single time that goes to waste as every minute counts.
On discipline, Mwalimu avers that she has the most disciplined girls and that makes it very easy to manage.
“We have close to zero indiscipline cases and this has made us stand out. Owing to the school’s history of posting impressive results, the school has seen many parents want to be associated with it. Today being an admission day for Form One students, over 600 parents have brought their daughters to be admitted to this school something that has never happened before,” she said.
To sum it up, the Catholic Church which is the sponsor has played a super role towards the school’s spiritual support.
She said students are spiritually nourished as a healthy body and mind must coexist.
Mumias West Member of Parliament Hon. Johnson Naicca has also been supportive as he has paid bursary for a reasonable number of students from the constituency just to keep them in school.
“We have set our target on a mean score of 8.75 in 2024 and nothing is going to stand in our way,” pointed out the Senior Principal.
For now, the school is the undisputed best girls’ school in Kakamega County.
