St Charles Lunganyiro Secondary School in Matungu Sub-county of Kakamega County is slowly picking up in academics, thanks to the hardworking Principal Boniface Sirma.
Barely a year after taking over as the head of the institution, the soft-spoken Principal has put the little-known school located in Namamali Ward on an academic ladder such that the perennial academic powerhouses in the sub-county are feeling the heat from St Charles Lunganyiro.
A week ago, the school participated in the annual English contest at St Peters High School Mumias where it upset a prestigious school in the region by scooping position four out of several schools that attended.
What baffled many is how the little-known school managed to impress in the contest while upsetting many giant schools.
According to the school Principal Mr Boniface Sirma, teamwork, dedicated staff, super discipline and stringent academic programs are among measures put in place.
Despite the school being a purely day school, students are in class by 6:30 a.m. and lessons start as early as 7 a.m.
“We value time so much and we never gamble, especially with candidates who are even exempted from manual work. Normal school programs run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. before class discussion sets into 5:45 p.m. on weekdays,” Mr Sirma said.
He added, “On Saturdays, we have remedial classes from 7 a.m. to noon and the afternoon is set for English discussions only. Sundays are for science practical for candidates and they are always in the school in the afternoon to do science practical.”
Mr Sirma avers that all the measures put in place are aimed at completing syllabus coverage in time and paving the way for revision.
“We all know that quality education is very expensive and I am happy that we have very supportive parents who understand and mean well for their children,” he said.
Fr Franklyn Sanya of Lunganyiro Catholic Church, the sponsor, has been hailed for his continued support and spiritual guidance that has helped curb indiscipline cases.
“Fr Sanya advised us to come up with measures that are aimed at supporting the vulnerable children in the school and to date, over 58 students have been supported by the initiative,” said Mr Sirma.
He further noted as a school, they are benchmarking with top schools in the region, among them Nambale Boys High School, especially in Mathematics, which has really helped them.
“If you want to go far, you go with others. For us, we chose to partner with Nambale School, especially in Mathematics and we are glad that Mr Tom Amadi of Nambale Boys is an asset to us. We want to complete the syllabus by June so that we start revising for the exams early enough,” he said.
He also indicated they have already set a target and nothing is going to stand in their way towards impressive performance in 2024 and beyond.
He said as they work towards impressive results in KCSE, they are also overwhelmed with the fair share of challenges as a school, among them:
- Inadequate playground.
- Limited space as the school sits on a two-acre piece of land.
- Few toilets.
- Shortage of laboratories.
- Shortage of teachers. The school only has 12 teachers employed by Teachers Service Commission and 12 teachers on Board of Management terms.
- No library, hence difficult to cultivate the reading culture in students.
- Water was a pertinent issue but an Islamic NGO called Omeriye drilled some for the school.
To manage part of the above challenges, the school is considering putting up a storey building for Administration, Computer labs, Laboratories and more classes.
Already, plans are at an advanced place for the ground breaking.
