By Erick Nyayiera
Back in the years, the mention of Barkanyango Secondary School was synonymous with striking an oasis of knowledge.
The school played in the same league with academic giants like Maranda High School among others in the then Siaya District.
The foundation stone the school was laid by the late Minister for Economic Planning and Development Tom Mboya on November 3, 1968.
The school boasts of an influential and resourceful alumni base working in key positions in both private and public sectors.
Among them is the current Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda and celebrated radio comedian Felix Odiwuor popularly known as Jalan’go.
The alumni list also includes senior veterinarian cum lecturer at University of Nairobi Joshua Amimo and the current Yimbo East MCA Francis Otiato.
The founding teachers include Japuonj Afulo, a Luo-Kadimo elder who also established the first Catholic school at Nyamonye.
Barkanyango was the first provincial boarding schools in Yimbo region whose students went to excel elsewhere after walking out of its gates.
All that is in the past and the school is currently struggling with a myriad of all kinds of problems.
Situated in North Yimbo location, Bondo sub- County, it is in a desolate state with dilapidated toilets, dormitories and water tanks.
The school’s canteen and some dormitories have withstood the vagaries of weather, with no renovation for the last 50 years.
The roofs are old, rusty, leaking and crumbling in some sections, while huge plants protruding from the walls have caused massive cracks.
According to the Board of Management Chairman Sylvester Opil, the performance of the school was at the level of Maranda High School.
“The school has produced notable figures in the society but due to a number of challenges, the performance went down,” said Mr Opil.
He added that the school could take a good number of students to the university until late 90s when things started to change.
Despite it being a boarding school, the school has a challenge of accessing clean water for use.
The chairman who took over the school’s management position three years ago, told Education News that due to poor academic performance, they have not be able to get students.
The school is currently a single stream except form One, with Form Four having only 22 students.
“We depended on “remnant” students and this contributed greatly to the poor performance. This also led to low funding by the government, which is based on student population,” said the chairman.
He says that since he became the BoM Chairman, they have managed to put up a library through the support of parents.
“We could not be able to raise much money because of the few parents but we’re hopeful that the current renovation of infrastructure and the new principal will restore the school’s lost glory,” he said.
With the current student population of 200, there is a tremendous improvement and they are looking forward to having the number grow to over 300.
The area MP said they have embarked on getting the school back to the right track by not only renovating infrastructure but also improving the student and teacher population.
“In order to improve the performance, we’ve resorted to sponsoring students with a minimum of 330 marks and we’re paying for them all the fees,” explained Ochanda.
He said currently they are therefore looking at improving results in four years
He attributed the institution’s lost glory to poor leadership, adding that they have started working on how to get more teachers.
