Fulfil Our Late MP’s School Bus Pledge, School Urges Government
Following the continued support to schools within Malava Constituency in Kakamega North, a top-performing institution is requesting that its pledge also be considered.
St. Teresa’s Isanjiro Comprehensive School, a top academic powerhouse for many decades, is requesting the government to chip in and honour the pledge (school bus) that the late MP Malulu Injendi had promised the school when he visited to congratulate them on their performance.
The call comes after the government, through its emissary and Presidential aide to President William Ruto, Farouk Kibet, initiated noticeable empowerment programmes in the constituency, with schools being ranked among the best performing within the area.
The school management, led by the head of the institution, Sister Caroline Wanjala, reminded the government that the late MP, while visiting the school in 2022 to congratulate them for their outstanding and exemplary results, had agreed to purchase a brand new school bus as a token of appreciation.
“When our late MP visited our school to celebrate and appreciate our efforts in reference to the good results posted in the 2021 KCPE, seeing us clinch the top position in the constituency, he promised to deliver to us a bus immediately after his re-election as Malava MP. Now that he passed on, our learners are only hearing of other schools receiving buses and keep wondering when theirs will come,” she stated.
She was optimistic that the visiting Presidential aide, Farouk Kibet, would also consider their school, adding that the school bus and any other assistance would further boost the morale of the learners, who have yearned for the same for many years.
According to the school’s Deputy Head Teacher Academics, Angela Chepchumba, the government has expressed academic goodwill in the constituency, with schools heavily benefiting from the initiative.
“As the government operatives continue to initiate programmes within our constituency, the St. Teresa’s fraternity is also humbly begging for government assistance as we grapple with infrastructure challenges, noting that the school’s population is over 1,600 and still counting,” she noted.
Chepchumba further narrated how the lack of classrooms has led to congestion of Grade 7 learners, from the normal 40 pupils per classroom to over 80, adding that it has made it harder for teachers to move around the class and supervise.
The Deputy highlighted that the school was an academic powerhouse and had the potential to do even better if it received assistance in acquiring a library, computer lab, and science lab to carry out competency-based education practicals.
The school’s Senior Teacher, Jonathan Mulunda Waithaka, confirmed that upon the late MP visiting the school to celebrate, he asked the learners what they wanted him to do for the school, and they shouted “school bus.”
He said it has been long since the pledge was made, and the pupils have been anxiously waiting, especially when they see other schools receiving goodies.
His senior counterpart, Patrick Misiko, also pointed out that the school was experiencing a shortage of TSC teachers.
The school has, for the last three years, sent 44 candidates to various national schools across the country, and these positive results have attracted an influx of new pupils, leading to overstretching of learning facilities.
The school is also urging both the Ministry of Education and the Malava NG-CDF to consider constructing an eight-storey building to address the overpopulation issue.
“The school is a public one, and we cannot send away parents who keep bringing their learners to the school. We will only be able to accommodate more if we have enough infrastructure in place,” she said.
