HABARI NEWS: THE END OF THE YEAR 2020
COVI-19 HAS EFFECTS ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS
On Wednesday July 15, 2020, a Kenyan local newspaper reported that more than 300, 000 learners are likely to miss classes when the academic year begins as private schools hard -hit by the Covi-19 pandemic remain permanently shut. The same paper stated that majority of Kenya’s 11,000 private learning centers are reeling under the coronavirus sting, with many unable to pay workers and foot bills. In the same report Kenya Private Schools Association said that more than 1,000 learning institutions may not be able to take back their pupils and students next year and that some have shut down after being evicted from their rental premises while others have lost employees as they could not keep them on payroll. It was reported that about 109 private schools were not able to get back in business when schools reopen. They have folded up because of having no income for months.
The closure of the institutions is likely to add to the headache of parents, who already are struggling with keeping children at home after the President ordered schools closed in March 2020. Private schools employ hundreds of teaching and subordinate staff, now rendered jobless “Teachers have deserted schools that have not no money. Some parents had not cleared first term fees, “and this has made the already bad situation worse”. Some schools have had their electricity and water disconnected due to accrued bills.
FRIENDS AND WELL-WISHERS OF FR. NTAIYIA SCHOOL: I share such a report in appreciation to you Friends and well-wishers of Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School and to also let you know that over the last ten years, Father Ntaiyia School has managed to meet running expenses from school fees paid by parents. We have been able to maintain affordable school fees and we have not increased our school fees for almost eight years. We have not ended any school year owing money to anyone. We pay our salaries, suppliers, and utilities in time. Although like any other learning institution we also face many uncertainties, you will be pleased to hear that when the government announced that the schools were to be reopening on 12th of October 2020, Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School was ready to welcome our learners and resume school activities without delay. I attribute this healthy situation to the good management of school fees we receive from parents for their children and the good use of the gifts we receive each year from friends of the school who donate in the spirit of “no gift is too small”. SEE PICTURES
REOPENING OF SCHOOLS: In the first week October The Education ministry announced that the school were opening in almost a two weeks’ time. It was also made clear that students in Grade 4, Standard 8 and Form Four (final year in High School) will be the first to return from October 12, 2020. The ministry further mentioned that National examinations will take place in March 2021, with KPCE (8th graders) exams beginning on March 22 and ending on March 24.
The news on reopening of the schools thought welcomed by many, had a stream of challenges. Many schools had not been taken care of since they were closed in March, many needed cleanings and clearing of overgrown vegetation and whatever may have needed repairs.
Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School was ready to receive our students back any day, we kept our buildings clean and the compound was well kept thanks to my grandnephew John who supervises such works. We, however, had to prepare for the rules and precaution regarding concerns of safety measures to protect learners from Covid-19.
BOD FUNDING PROJECTS 2020: The preparation to reopen did not take us off-guard because on July 22, 2020 during second BOD meeting (for the Charity that manages donations we receive from Friends well-wishers of the School). We discussed and approved funding projects that could be done when the children were away during COVID-19 break.
- Rainwater harvest from the front of the house that sisters use in the school including the additional roof of the prayer room added to it. This needed a water tank base, a water tank., guttering. SEE PICTURES
- The charity also accepted to fund partitioning of a room making a bedroom in the sister’s house from their former prayer room after the congregation of sisters appointed another sister in the school SEE PICTURES
- Landscaping, tree planting and fencing. We planted trees in parts of school compound and fenced the areas they were planted to keep the students out of them until the trees grow. SEE PICTURES
4 The Charity BOD members accepted to meet expenses of paying salaries for the staff members who were working in the school during the COVID-19 break, they also helped to pay for social security and hospital insurance for every staff member during the seven months of the break. We had no money coming from parents in form of fees because the children were at home.
SCHOOLS FINALLY OPENED ON MONDAY OCTOBER 12, 2020. The resumption of studies, which saw Grade Four, grade Eight and graduating class of High school report for their second term (trimester leaving out other learners who number about 12 million in Kenya. Forth grades are the pioneer class of the new curriculum and eighth graders and expected to end their 8 years of elementary education with a public examination. SEE PICTURES
We made good preparation for reopening and this was not difficult because I am in constant communication with the staff in school especially Mr. John who represents me and works as my foreman in many ways. Understanding of the rules regarding COVID-19 was primary and so teachers worked out on social distancing, we placed water points with barrels for hand washing available for students all the time. I had to employ a person to be at the school gate all the time during the day to make sure that all the required regulations are adhered to by those coming in the school. Classrooms and Dormitories were worked out in respect of social distancing. SEE PICTURES
Learning and all school activities went on well during the short trimester, we had no case of COVID-19 and students were able to complete their work in time for end of trimester examinations. The crash second trimester took about 10 weeks, with schools closing a few days before Christmas. It will be a short holiday for the candidates and Grade Four learners as they will resume classes on January 4. The Ministry of Education had indicated that all (grades) the students will resume in January and by now there has been no announcement to change that. SEE PICTURES
FATHER NTAIYIA 40 YEARS AS A PRIEST
December 7, I celebrated my 40th. anniversary, our Parish Life Committee formed a Celebration Committee and below was a very successful plan on the weekend prior to the actual day of my anniversary amid the challenges of the year 2020 SEE PICTURES
Dear Friends of Father Symon
Please join the celebration of Father Symon’s 40 years as a priest!
Please save the dates: December 5 – Receiving Line, and December 6 – Anniversary Mass. All protocols of Covid-19 will be followed, including face covering. We welcome you to come and spend a few moments with Father Symon to share with him whatever is in your heart.
Receiving Line – Saturday, December 5, 2020, at St. Mary’s Parish Center
Open House Receiving Line, 10:00 AM to 12:00
Greeters will meet you at the Parish Center door
A slide show of Father Symon’s life displayed in the Parish Center
Basket for cards and messages will be available
Mass – Sunday, December 6, 2020, at St. Mary’s in Ontario
Anniversary Mass, 8:30 AM
We will follow the seating arrangements already in place for Sunday Mass
Mass RSVP, with the number attending (315)524-2611
You may already know much of Father Symon’s heartwarming story.
Born from a humble family in Narok, Kenya, Symon Peter Ntaiyia was needed at home, herding sheep, goats and cows. Yet, at age 10, he was enrolled in boarding school, while his Maasai community moved with the herds. His Catholic education began with primary school, and after passing exams following elementary school, he became a catechist. During the next two years, the seeds of his vocation were sown.
In 1969, as a young man, he entered Seminary, and in 1980 he became the first priest to be ordained among the Maasai community in Narok. From early in his priesthood, he realized the importance of quality education for Maasai children. Six years after his ordination, he started a high school for boys. Most of the boys are successful in life, and thirteen are priests. Following his 25th anniversary as a priest, he founded The Father Symon Jubilee School for Nomads with the help people in America and especially those in the parishes he served.
Father Symon’s American sabbatical in 2002 was followed by a five-year extension. He was then incardinated in the Catholic Diocese of Rochester, New York. Father Symon’s assignments have included parishes in Avon, Gates, Owego, Elmira, Sodus, Ontario/Williamson/Walworth, Palmyra /Marion and Macedon. Having shepherded parishioners through clustering and merging, he is pastor of two parishes in western Wayne County—St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Katharine Drexel, supported by Father Anthony Amato, Parochial Vicar.
For his commemorative prayer card, Father Symon said that the people of these parishes “. . . have all touched my priestly life in many ways. I entrust them all, together with my own humble priestly life, to the care of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus and our own.”
Parish Life Committee and Celebration Committee
SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND FATHER NTAIYIA’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
This celebration found the school community still in school about two weeks before their Christmas break. The Parish Priest of Narok Parish celebrated Mass of thanksgiving with the school community. This was followed by brief speeches and songs before they were all treated to an extraordinary meal and soft drinks. SEE PICTURES
Wishing Friends of Father Ntaiyia Jubilee School a Happy and Healthy New year
Fr. Symon Ntaiyia