How aviation dreams are fostered at Nanyuki High

Pilot Rhaman Ochieng and co-pilot Haibe Hussein arrive for an aviation lesson at Nanyuki High School.

They are carrying a pen and a book, but they also have a change of outfit from their green and blue uniform.

The students are dressed in white shirts, with yellow and black striped tags and blue trousers.

In front of Ochieng and Hussein is a 43-inch screen and a control pad, showing the simulation process.

Ochieng and Hussein take us through a 15-minute long flight.

We see them go through the runway, take off, fly in the air and finally land.

Every Monday and Friday at 11 am, the students look forward to moments of runways, take-offs and landings.

The lesson includes theory, practical and another session of tests.

The Form 3 students are among more than 100 students pursuing aviation in school.

Nanyuki High is among eight public secondary schools in Kenya offering aviation.

COURSE QUALIFICATIONS 

Aviation is the most coveted subject in the school, but a learner must meet certain requirements to qualify.

The subject teacher John Waweru said at Form 1, the student must have attained a cut-off of 400 marks in KCPE.

“The student must also demonstrate good performance in maths, physics, chemistry and geography,” Waweru said.

The second review of performance is done when the learners get to Form 2.

In Form 3, the school collaborates with aviation stakeholders to allow students to get exposed to real aviation experiences.

They are taken to Wilson Airport for attachment, after which they will be able to sit exams at Form 4.

“The school prepares all the logistics involved, in terms of getting airlines (Fly Air Kenya), aircraft maintenance organisations and other training organisations,” he said.

Nanyuki High, located in Laikipia county also gives the students a chance to visit Laikipia airbase for practical lessons.

At Laikipia airbase, students receive training from air force aviation professionals and are involved in other programme-related field excursions.

“We are particularly happy with the support we have received from Kenya Air force at Laikipia Airbase for the on-school talks/training and on-field training to our students,” Waweru said.

The airbase also allows students to interact with professionals in the aviation industry who give them 'talks'.

The students are taken through flight simulator training, aerodynamics of flight, meteorology and aircraft navigation, and airport operations.

Other deliverables of the subject are aircraft propulsion systems (aircraft jet engines and new generation engines) and aircraft systems.

For some lessons, the students are involved in drone making, aircraft designing and fabrication.

WHY COURSE IS POPULAR

The deputy principal in charge of curriculum, Gitonga Kingori, said aviation is the technical subject that receives the highest applications.

He attributed the love for aviation to passion and the urge to explore the industry.

“We encourage students to pursue what they like and clearly most of them like aviation,” Gitonga said.

At the beginning of the term, the students are given the syllabus to go through what they will cover.

“We give them a copy of the syllabus so they have expectations of what will be covered,” he said.

He termed this passion for aviation as outstanding and one that will soon bear fruits.

Gitonga further added that 'Balancing the Act' positively contributes to good performance in technical subjects.

Balancing the Act is a grading technique whereby students' academic performance is linked with their extracurricular activity.

The list has the name of the student, points, grade and activity.

"This helps them learn that even if you don't perform exemplarily well, you can still do well in other activities," Gitonga said.

However, he said, this should not be used as an excuse to underperform in exams while doing well in talents.

"As a school, we work towards bringing up holistic students who excel both in academics and their talents. That's why we call it balancing the act," he said.

Teacher Waweru said exposure of students to real aircraft upscales their performance in the subject.

“We also involve our learners in creative project creation, which they greatly enjoy and resonate with,” Waweru said.

The aviation department has also been equipped gradually to fit the increasing demand for the subject.

“We have continually been in the process of equipping the workshop to a fully furnished one, and today we can run operations satisfactorily,” he said.

Waweru said the growth of the department and increased resources has seen the performance improve over the years.

CHALLENGES FACED

Being an extra technical subject that requires a lot of field exposure, the school has to collaborate with professionals in the aviation industry.

However, it is not easy, especially when incurring financial expenses, mostly in terms of resources.

The school started the department with few resources, but with time, everything fell in place.

Because of the passion manifested, most parents have come out to support their children's dreams in aviation.

“We have limited capacity because starting and running an aviation department is very expensive," Waweru said.

Undertaking aviation as a subject is solely a school initiative, which is funded and spearheaded by a number of collaborations.

Institutions that work with Nanyuki High School include Kenya Aeronautical College, East African School of Aviation and Technical University of Kenya.

The high number of applications taking part in the course is also hindered by limited resources.

That's why the school has to take students through a number of tests before approving them.

SELECTION CRITERIA

For the few years aviation has been offered, students have proven to come out of the institution as well-informed practitioners.

When it comes to selection of university courses, the students already know what they want to pursue.

“First and foremost is that the students get a better understanding of the aviation fields and careers available for advancement,” Waweru said.

They evade the confusion that comes with juggling between four courses without having any that one is really interested in.

While undertaking the aviation subject, students also get in a better position to align themselves in the aviation industry.

Being a wide industry, they get to know which area of specialisation they will work with in future.

They have options of pursuing aeronautical engineering, piloting, aerospace sciences and aeronautical sciences.

“Aviation courses are very competitive and require a lot of prerequisite training and extensive research on current aviation dynamics of operations,” Waweru said.

In the 2021 KCSE results, aviation had a mean score of an A plain of 11.25.

The first aviation class sat KCSE in 2020 and posted a mean score of 10 points.

In the KCSE results, the top five best-performing subjects were technicals.

Computer studies had a mean score of 11.9, woodwork 11.8 and electricity 11.6.

Aviation had 11.25, French 10.8, agriculture 9.2 and business studies 8.5.

The technical subjects offered are business (compulsory at Form 1), French, music, building and construction, and computer studies.

Others are art and design, drawing and design, home science, aviation, electricity, woodwork and agriculture.

Edited by T Jalio