Parents’ visiting day went very well on 21 June even though it is dry in most parts of the country where the students come from. I was informed that all the children were visited and the parents who did not come had members of their families visiting their children. The country is generally dry and there has been no rain in some areas for several months now. During visiting day most parents were able to meet with teachers and talk about their children’s progress and life in the school. The Head teacher is always available for any outstanding issue that may need her attention with parents. As I have mentioned before this is always a joyful day that brings parents from many parts of the county and District to the school and even though they may not know each other, there is always a sensation of a family, made possible by the fact that they all have a child in the school. It becomes like one celebration for all and yet each family keeps to its own company. Some families bring the little ones or brothers and sisters to visit whoever is in school and they come ready to meet their brother or sister who is in the boarding school. Some mothers shed tears when they come and when they leave but are happy that their child is in school. Generally the parents are happy with the way their children are taken care of in the school and I personally confirm that it is to my expectation. It should always be remembered that it is through the generosity of many benefactors and donors that such an environment has become possible.
As I mentioned in the last letter the school was competing with others in music festivals that take place this trimester and each school, depending on what they choose to do, may go alone on an activity or at a certain level, the best form a team with other schools in their region. This year for the first time our students managed to perform well at a district level and 13 of our students are going to compete at National level which is the top most level in the country. They will join another school in a Kenyan coastal city – Mombasa, about five hundred miles from Narok (where the school is situated) and will compete with other schools. This ends the extracurricular for music in the year and the best teams will have the privilege of going to perform for the head of state at state house Nairobi. Sister Pauline the Head teacher had informed me that our children were doing well on this but I did not expect that they would do this well. The schools in Kenya have three weeks to go before a four-week August break .
I had two phone call meetings with the school teaching staff and one with teachers and non-teaching staff since May and from our conversations it sounds things are going on well. How this happens is that one of the cell phones there is put on speakers and they all assemble near it and I am able to talk to them and they have an opportunity to ask questions. In the future we shall find a better way, even skype, but at the moment we have no power in the school for a computer and sometimes the connection becomes impossible. I also speak with the Head teacher very often and I call any employee who may wish to speak with me on a personal level.
The World Bank has revised downwards its growth projections for Kenya this year noting that the major downsides include the deteriorating security situation in the country and inadequate and erratic rainfall. According to the report, the drought that began in the last quarter of last year and delayed rain in the first half of this year have increased the prices of almost everything from maize (corn) flour, petrol (gas) to bus fares and life is becoming very difficult. So far we have been lucky because we buy our staple foods in bulk at the beginning of the trimester when most of the fees are paid.
Local Kenya papers have repeatedly reported that the country aims to introduce free secondary education in 2017 to boost transition rates from public primary schools, which have not been charging fees since 2003 when the free primary education program was introduced. Free primary school education is said to have seen the number of students enrolling in secondary schools rise 64 percent to 77 percent. The government intends to use the free secondary education to raise the transition rate and increase equity because rising post-primary fees deny the poor access to quality education. Families of some bright students who secured admission in national public high schools early this year opted to have their children join low-ranked schools because they could not raise the annual fees that are very high in these schools.
The fear will be the same as when free education was introduced in elementary school; parents lost much of a say in the schools and the quality of education and other school activities in public schools worsened. As I mentioned in a letter some months back the school teaching items and text books become very expensive because all in public school is paid by the free education program sponsored by the international community and the government does not control much of the prices given by the dealers.
Readers will recall that sometimes I mentioned that I had bought 2 acres of property near a river less than a mile from the school. We have been growing vegetables there and by irrigation the children have been having fresh vegetables mainly kale and cabbage. This has been very helpful especially during the long dry season. In the past we use to get our vegetables from suppliers from highlands and there was not very much available or fresh during the dry seasons. I hope to use one third of the lot for whatever fruits that can grow well in this area such as oranges, melons and others. As for the Administration cum Library building I have not been in touch with the contractor for a while. Pictures indicated that the walls are dry for painting and fitting the window panes.
Fr. Symon