To friends and well-wishers of Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School. You will be seeing a School logo “Father Ntaiyia Jubilee Comprehensive School”, this is the way we are to call a school that has Junior or middle grades 7,8.9 after the very much talked about and written new syllabus system of Education in Kenya.
It is over six months since I traveled from Kenya back to the US last November after very busy time seeing to a number of projects especially the Science laboratory in the School. You will have seen the news and pictures I shared while I was still there. My last week became really busy for me and the workers in School, Intensive work was going on putting finishing touches on the science lab both inside and outside. The fume chamber was being completed inside and the gas containers chamber outside and we were to have water and gas connections for the lab. There was also work on drainage pipes from the laboratory and chemicals wastewater pit.
We were also working on purchasing and mounting a new digital TV for students that is very much welcome by the students because apart from other programs they can see Father Ntaiyia via live-streaming celebrating Mass every other Sunday 14 thousand miles away from Kenya.
While all these was going on we were anxious because we were expecting the results of the public examinations that our closing 8 graders in the old system of education took two weeks after my arrival to Kenya. These are the candidates for whom we had the parents come to school for prayer day. It is natural to be nervous as we wished all of them to make it. As I disclosed there before, four days before my return to the US the results were out and were good. 39 out 42 made it for High school and the 3 below pass marks are good to go as well. Many children have strong pass, and the parents, and community were happy. We thank friends of the School for helping to give hope to so many. In April our Head teacher informed me that most of our candidates were able to go to continue with their studies at High School level.
With satisfactory results for children, I was ready to get back to the US and left the workers doing some of the remaining repair work that needed to be done before the children return back to school in the first week of January. As you may conclude from the past reports, we have the first and the second class of Junior High that is (grade 7 and 8) in 2024 and in 2025 we shall have grade 9 and from here the students will go to other schools for (10, 11 and 12).
I had ordered textbooks for all the courses of grade 8 before I left Kenya, and they were delivered to the school on December 15th.2023. which means we were prepared for the new school year that started in January 2024. The BOD of Father Ntaiyia Charity gave funds from donations we receive from friends of the school.
January the school year started well in January but for usual traveling especially for the families that live in remote places. For the first time we enrolled children for grade one who are day schooling because they are too small to be boarders and for that reason only a few who can easily walk to school on their own.
Learning and other school activities have been going on well, we have enough teachers to cover all the courses (subjects) in all grades following the new curriculum and following assessment of previous year all children were promoted to next grade meaning we are doing well in the new curriculum. Our students we very happy and excited to have a science laboratory for the first time in our school as most of them have never seen one before and were eager to be shown inside it by teachers.
School assemblies take place every Monday and Fridays morning before classed and evenings after classed. The teacher on duty and Headteacher bring announce to the students any matters that need attention.
On the same days, formally, the National flag is hoisted, and the National anthem is sung. This is done in all schools in Kenya. From the morning assembly the learners go to classrooms.
The effects of pandemic and drought are still very clear in that many families and communities have not recovered fully. We see this in the enrollment of children as the number continues to be smaller. Public schools have recorded very high enrollment because the government is giving free education and maybe the parents feel now that there are no public examinations any more every school is the same, especially when they do not have to pay school fees. Because of this at the beginning of the school year 12 of our ongoing students left our school.
The economic situation in Kenya continues to be challenging. A report by The World Bank in the Kenya Poverty & Equity Assessment 2023 Report states that after the pandemic in 2020, the gap between the rich and the poor widened. Leaders are advised to connect the poor to economic growth, strengthen households’ resilience to adverse weather shocks. It is pointed out that that arid counties (Maasai Districts like Narok where the school is being one of them) in Kenya experience the largest negative poverty impact due to Climate Change despite having the highest baseline poverty rates. Kenya is advised to expand social assistance programs such as hunger safety nets to help reach less-well of households.
Each year I notice an increase in young people in towns idling and when we announce some casual work in the school, we have had High school and University graduates come to work for some pocket money or even buy food for their families.
https://mhl.hxi.mybluehost.me/website_e30e867a
Fr. Symon Peter Ntaiyia