Absenteeism and indiscipline are some of the problems facing the school that recorded the lowest performance in this year’s KCSE exam.
Malera Mixed Secondary School in Migori county had a mean score of 1.8 (E), with the top student getting a C- (minus). This means none of its 87 candidates will have direct entry to university.
The management now seeks to redeem the school image and fix the problems that have condemned it to poor results.
Yesterday, principal Zablon Moseti, members of the board of directors, parents, teachers and local leaders met to deliberate on how best to reverse the trend as schools reopen next Monday.
“The biggest challenge in the school has been indiscipline among students coupled with poor infrastructure and parents who don’t to pay fees,” Moseti said.
He said in the second term, only 60 candidates turned up for the mock examination. “Out of the 60, 11 dropped out midway.”
The runaway indiscipline and absenteeism compelled them to invite Migori Woman Representative Pamela Odhiambo, an academic, to motivate the students, the principal said.
“When we inquired, most students said they had lost hope of ever passing the national examinations, with most of them doing so as a formality,” Moseti told the forum.
He blamed high cases of indiscipline to a shortage of staff. The school has only five teachers employed by the government against a student population of 549. The population has doubled in the past two years. They also have one intern teacher posted by the Teachers Service Commission but have no deputy principal.
Attempts to employ teachers through the board have failed as parents do not pay fees and those who do bring maize and other supplies instead of cash, Moseti said.
Parent Albert Onyango said, “We are now worried as most maize being roasted in Migori town comes from the village, which means by the time schools reopen, most parents won’t have fees to pay.”
They only have four iron sheet-walled dormitories for girls and boys. In the results released on December 18 by Education CS George Magoha, Kanga High School topped the county with a mean score of 8.7
Edited by R.Wamochie
